James Flinn Crook

James Flinn “Jim” Crook (87) died on July 16th, 2025 at the Southminster Retirement Community in Charlotte, NC.

Jim is survived by his wife Kathryn Ann Gilchrist of Charlotte, NC and Rock Hill, SC; his son Richard Kynan Crook and wife Sinead of Nashua, NH; his grandsons Timothy Aidan Crook and Thomas James Crook, also of Nashua; his stepdaughter Karen Sargent of Princeton, NJ and Adare, Ireland; his twin sister Patricia Ann Barger of DeSoto, TX; his niece Cynthia Barger Tolson and husband John Tolson of Nacogdoches, TX; and his niece Susan Barger of Overland Park, KS.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Elizabeth Marie Fletcher of Rock Hill, SC and Austin, TX; his second wife Barbara Doll Crook of Rock Hill, SC, and Grand Rapids, MI; his parents James C. Crook and Al Lee Flinn Crook of Garland, TX; his brother-in-law Bobby Barger of De Soto TX; and his nephew Van Barger of Overland Park, KS.

He was born on August 29, 1937 at Bethany Hospital in Wichita Falls, TX and grew up in Garland, TX. He graduated from Garland High School in 1955 and Texas A&M University in 1964 after serving in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fontenet, France from 1960–62.

He was a graduate student at A&M and the University of California 1965–68, and at Virginia Tech 1968–70 where he studied with Professors I. J. “Jack” Good and James M. Buchanan.

He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 1973. He taught at Winthrop University from 1970–2004 and retired as an Emeritus Professor of Computer Science. He was designated a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in 1986.

While he was Chair of the Department of Computer Science, he supervised the successful ABET accreditation—a national accreditation—of the B.S. degree program in Computer Science in 1993.

Jim will be remembered for his bright blue eyes and hearty laugh.

A memorial service will be held at the Southminster Retirement Community at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 16th, 2025. Inurnment will be in the Crook family section of the Bellevue Cemetery in Bellevue, TX, on the 11th of October 2025.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Southminster Community Fund at 8919 Park Rd., Charlotte, NC 28210 or to The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University, 505 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX 77840.