“Thank you for the decades,” McHenry County Public Defender Mark Cook told friends, family and colleagues who gathered Friday to wish him farewell as he prepares to retire after nearly 40 years on the job.

“Nothing but a pleasure working here in McHenry County,” Cook said as his wife Laura Cook, along with his adult children and a granddaughter, looked on.

Cook thanked judges, lawyers and courthouse employees he’s known throughout his career. In introducing his children, he joked that he had a lot of names to remember, which was met with laughter.

In addressing the many years he’s held the position, he said his children told him they’d never known him “as anything but the public defender. ... I guess I’ve been doing that the longest of anything.”

He added it’s been “wonderful, thank you” – then moved about the room hugging and chatting with people he’s worked with.

Cook’s last day will be Feb. 6, and on Feb 7, Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof will take over the post.

Laura Cook said they don’t have any big plans, but she’s just happy her husband will be home.

Behof, 56, appointed by the circuit judges of the McHenry County courthouse, joined the office in 1995.

Behof spoke at the reception for Cook about how he always has a smile and created a family-like “tight-knit group” in the office. Behof said Cook “was there to listen to you.” The office “was like a family that he had away from home.”

And when Cook’s family came up in conversation, he always shared what everyone was up to, Behof said, including his grandchildren, which Cook jokingly referred to as his nieces and nephews.

Behof said he would always remember the way Cook would “blend work family with home” and would try to do the same.