Local entrepreneur and retired member of the Essex County Board of Supervisors William W. Cooke passed away Sunday, November 26. He was 90. An Essex County native, Cooke graduated from Tappahannock High School and held a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Randolph Macon College. The Rappahannock Times reports Cooke served four terms on the Essex County Board of Supervisors, holding the positions of chairman and vice-chairman on multiple occasions. He was initially elected in 1975 in a five-man race, holding one of two seats that represented the old Central Magisterial District. He earned re-election in a four-man race in 1979. He was unopposed in the 1983 and 1987 elections. In the business world, Cooke was the owner of Essex Concrete and Aylett Sand and Gravel.