William Herbert Crook; Former VISTA Director

William Herbert Crook, 72, former director of the national program Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and a U.S. ambassador to Australia. A minister and educator, Crook was appointed in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to open an Austin, Texas, branch of the Office of Economic Opportunity to oversee national service programs in five states. Two years later, Johnson appointed him national director of the new VISTA, which attempts to help people at or below the poverty level through community programs. Crook was appointed ambassador to Australia in 1968. He was a graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Seminary and served as a Baptist pastor before his government service. On Wednesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, of heart problems.