Margaret E. Cooley

Margaret Evangeline (Burge) Cooley, daughter of the late Lloyd Edwin and Mable Ellen (Locke) Burge, was born on May 12, 1927 in Austin, Colorado, and departed this life on July 20, 2016 at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. She was 89 years, 2 months, and 8 days of age.

Maggie spent her early years in Colorado and moved to Missouri in her early teen years. She finished her schooling and graduated from Ava High School in 1944. As a child, Maggie considered herself a tomboy. She loved being outdoors collecting rocks and hunting for arrow heads, which were commonly found in her pockets.

After high school, Maggie moved to California where she was a telephone operator during World War II. She enjoyed spending time at the Pike in Long Beach.

After she moved back to Missouri, she married the love of her life, Theodore Lee Cooley, on September 26, 1946. They moved from their little farm south of Mountain Grove, Missouri, to California. There they began their family and adopted three children. In 1963, they moved to Arkansas where they bought a chicken farm and raised their family as well as cared for many foster children. Maggie loved working on the family farm. In her spare time, she enjoyed and excelled in both crocheting and sewing. Maggie and Lee had been married for 60 years when Lee passed away in 2007.

Besides her parents and her husband, Maggie was preceded in death by one son: II Lieutenant William Bill Lee Cooley in 1978; three brothers: Kenneth, Dick, and Melvin Burge; and two sisters: Lois Stoops and Gladys Medlock.

She is survived by one son: Patrick Cooley and his wife, Cindy, of North Little Rock, Arkansas; one daughter: Shirley Smith of Mountain Grove, Missouri; seven grandchildren: Kimberly Mayfield of Norwood, Missouri, Jason Cooley of Bella Vista, Arkansas, Joshua Poore of Russellville, Arkansas, Michael Cooley of Hot Springs, Arkansas, Brandon Cooley of Danville, Arkansas, George Cooley and Christopher Cooley, both of North Little Rock, Arkansas; ten great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of other relatives and friends who will miss her dearly.