Joyce Cookman
Joyce Cookman was initiated into the Alexandria chapter of Tri Kappa in 1966 as a “summer girl,” a recent high school graduate. She didn’t become an active member, however, until her retirement years in Bloomington.
“I had been thinking about joining (the Alpha chapter) for a while,” Joyce says. “I told Judy Downey I’d like to affiliate.”
Joyce’s original chapter was the eighth Tri Kappa chapter founded in Indiana.
Joyce grew up in Alexandria, the youngest of four children. Everyone in her family had a “J” name: father Jesse; mother Jean; brother Jim; and sisters Janet and Judy. All four siblings attended Indiana University, where Joyce joined the Gamma Phi Beta sorority while studying secondary education with an emphasis in journalism and English.
“There are a large number of teachers in our family, going back to my maternal grandmother,” Joyce says.
Joyce married her husband, Claude, in 1973 after meeting him in the Anderson Herald newsroom. His various jobs took the Cookmans all over the eastern half of the United States, with Joyce finding work wherever they went, as a teacher and later a public-relations officer. After 10 years, they started a family. Their sons are Colin and Alex.
“We were the oldest people in the birthing class when Colin was born in Miami in 1983,” Joyce laughs.
Soon after their second son was born in Louisville in 1985, they moved to Princeton, N.J., for Claude’s doctoral studies. Afterward, Claude was hired to teach at the IU School of Journalism.
The Cookmans have been in Bloomington since 1990. Joyce worked in English/language-arts assessment development for most of her professional career until retiring in 2012.
Joyce has always been involved with Gamma Phi. She served several years on the Beta Phi house corporation board and is the president of the Bloomington area alum chapter. She is also the alumnae relations adviser for the IU student chapter.
The sisterhood of Gamma Phi is one reason Joyce sought out Bloomington’s Tri Kappa group.
“I like the variety, in terms of the older members and younger members. Tri Kappa is a nice mix of generations,” Joyce says.
“I also remembered from when I was young about our scholarships for students. That was Tri Kappa’s goal (in 1966). As a former teacher, that has always been something that I wanted to be a part of.”
Joyce has a hard time naming one specific aspect of Tri Kappa as her favorite.
“I like flower sales because I love flowers,” Joyce says. “That’s one of my favorite things.
“I also like attending our meetings. Seeing people and socializing is something I have really missed (during Covid).”
More About Joyce:
Is very proud of her two sons and their partners
Values her more than 50-year-long friendships, including her Peruvian sister who was an exchange student their senior year in high school
Is an “unskilled” knitter
Performed song and dance routines with her sister when they were young
Doesn’t consider herself to be an outgoing person, which may surprise some people!