Margaret (Marg) Carlene Cooley

On August 10, 2023 Margaret Carlene Cooley had the best day of her life when she met her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Marg was born on June 15, 1932, to Clifford and Louella Schmidt Van Dolah. She grew up as “Margie” and if you listen closely, you may hear some people still call her Margie today. In 91 years, Marg lived more, loved more, experienced more and gave more than someone twice her age. She was born in Preston, Kansas, at home on the farm, the youngest of 4 children, to very humble beginnings. She was raised in a devoted Lutheran home with strong Christian values she passed on to her daughters Lynda (Lyn) and Angela (Angie).

She met the love of her life, James Cooley, in High School in Independence, KS. They were married on June 23, 1951 and that day kick started a 56 year adventure. James was career Air Force that took the whole family across the US and around the world, but Kansas was always “home”. Marg supported James through 26 different assignments that included four remote (without the family) year-long deployments to Korea, Thailand and Vietnam and multiple “TDY” (temporary duty) assignments. They lived in 7 different states (returning to CO and UT several times) Guam and 2 different places in Germany. They grew their family along the way with Lyn born in 1953, James Richard in 1956, and Angie in 1958. They endured the loss of their son, James Richard, after only 3 days.

Marg was outgoing, fun loving, adventurous, courageous, and sometimes an outrageous individual. She never met a stranger, she treated everyone like family, was an AMAZING cook, and loved to knit. She loved to travel and visited dozens of foreign countries and all 50 USA states. While she had tragedy in her life like losing her 16 year old sister June when Marg was only 5 and losing her son, those experiences taught her to love the living fiercely and unconditionally, be hospitable, and pay things forward.

Marg sacrificed a lot to support James’ career as she never had time to establish herself at a place of employment before it was time to move again. She became a keypunch operator (Google it ) and could take that skill from place to place until it became obsolete. Marg was almost always the one that had to pack up the family and get them to their new assignment without the help of James, who always had to go ahead of her. It was a tremendous responsibility and while there were times she had to be terrified, no one ever knew she was afraid because she would suck it up and make it happen. She relished when James retired from the military and they moved to Coffeyville, KS where she and James lived until shortly before James’ death in 2007. The last move of her life was from Coffeyville to Derby, KS where she lived near her children and grandchildren.

No one will miss her more than her daughters Lyn Lack and Angie Fischer, her son-in-law Eric Fischer, her grandchildren Curtis Fischer (Krista), Windy Cherenzia (Bob), Danny Fischer (Cari), Lisa Stahl (Ehren), Joshua Fischer (Maddie), Shannon Long (Denver), Adam Unrein, Jay Westerterp, Mindy Stevens (Dom), Holly Howard (Christopher), Nichole Sloat (Brad), her 27 great grandchildren, her brother-in-law, Don (Bev) Cooley and her niece, Donna Van Dolah.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James V. Cooley; son, James Richard Cooley, grandson, Dusty McGaugh, and son-in-law Mike Lack.

The Memorial Service will be at 11:00 am, Saturday, August 19th, 2023 at Risen Savior Lutheran Church 6770 E 34th St N. Wichita, Kansas 67226 (lunch to follow). The internment will be 11am, Saturday, September 2nd, 2023 at Mt. Hope Cemetery, 1300 N Pennsylvania Ave, Independence, KS 67301.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Risen Savior Lutheran Church, 6770 E. 34th St N., Wichita, Kansas 67226 or Kansas Poodle Rescue Donate Here

Livestream of the service will be available. Password: Cooley

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