COOLEY, JACK R.

Jack Roy Cooley was born 1936 at Hyannis, NE, although “home'' was the “Erwin Place'' 4 miles northwest of Mullen, NE. Mom & her mother stayed in the tourist cabins in Hyannis during the final days of her pregnancy to be near the doctor (Howell). It was unusually cold and took a gunny sack of coal per day to keep the small (1 room), drafty cabin warm.

My first growing up memories were on the “Stickley Place'' (on the north side of the Dismal River about 6 miles east of Hwy. 97). This was a desolate area. We had a 1927 “Model A'' Ford. Dad made a “road'' down the side of the river hill so we could “drive right to the house''. “Town'' was either Mullen (2 1/2 hours) or Seneca NE (1 1/2 hours) away. Most of the business we needed to do was in Mullen so we generally went to Mullen. A trip to town usually consumed most of the day and we would frequently eat lunch in “Ma Smithy's Cafe'' (Mr. & Mrs. Ruben Long). At first we carried water from a spring across the river (over a foot bridge Dad made out of logs). Later he replaced the logs with “bridge'' planks.

When I started school Mom was a teacher. We left the car (a '38 Ford) on the south side of the river. We would walk from the house, across the foot bridge to the car, then drive 6 miles southeast ot school (in Ed Rodewald's yard). In October 1942 we moved 6 miles up the river where my Dad got a job as foreman of the W.B. Farrar ranch. My brother (Cy) & I rode 4 miles south (on horseback) to school Dist. #6. This was a 1 room frame school featuring 1 teacher. The teacher taught all 8 grades. Student population ranged from 2 to possibly 10. In the spring of 1946 we moved to a ranch we had put together piecemeal from smaller places. The ranch was 8 miles south of Mullen. Cy & I rode the “school bus'' to Mullen. The first year the “bus'' was a (1939?) Mercury sedan driven by Lyle Benner. The next 2 years it was a 1936 (or '38) Ford Coupe driven by Don Long.

When Cy started high school he drove our 1949 Chevrolet sedan to school & I rode with him. Two years later, when he graduated, I started driving to school (at age 14). After I graduated from high school (in 1953 at age 16) I worked on the W.B. Farrar “home ranch'' south of Hyannis. I was there from June through October and worked for $200/mo. including board and room. I then worked for Paul Pound (on the Francis “Cap'' Hannah Ranch) 2-3 miles west of Brownlee NE through May 1955 ($125/ mo. except $250/mo. in haying when I supervised the mowing crew). I worked for Pete Jones at the “Box T'' Ranch (5 miles SW of Brownlee) a month, then secured a job with the National Weather Service (NWS) in Anchorage, AK as a weather observer for the astonishing sum of $2950/yr. including a 25% cost of living allowance, 10% for night work, time and a half for holidays and 2 weeks of vacation per year! In November I transferred to Nome, AK. It was exciting to live in this historic gold mining town, learn some of the ways of the Eskimos, watch the dog sled races etc. In June I transferred to King Salmon, AK. This was a rugged isolated area with a small Air Force base, lots of hunting, fishing and mosquitos!

In the fall I was temporarily reassigned to Washington, DC for a short Antarctic Train-ing assignment. I was to participate in the Navy's Deepfreeze II Project and had been selected for duty at the South Pole station for a minimum of 18 months! The South Pole assignment fell through and I was temporar-ily assigned to Dodge City, KA in Nov. & Dec. 1956, then back to Alaskan assignments at King Salmon, Fairbanks and Barter Island. I was at Barter Island Apr. '57 thru Apr. '58. Barter Island was a small island about 50-100 yards off the north coast of Alaska and 400 miles north of the arctic circle. There was a small Eskimo village nearby that contained 15-25 families. I made friends with some of the eskimos and enjoyed their company. At Barter Island (Kaktovik to the eskimo's) there was three months of darkness in the winter and three months of daylight in the summer. This area fascinated me and I enjoyed my stay there.

In April 1958 I quit the NWS in Alaska and reapplied in “the States''. In the meantime I worked for Bushman Const. Co. (at $1.25/hr.) pouring precast concret structures (for the Red Willow Irrigation Project in the McCook-Culbertson, NE area. In August 1958 I went back to work for the NWS (at North Platte NE $5130/yr)! I thought that was really big money! On September 14, 1958 Joanne S. Thompson & I were married in the Methodist Church in McCook. Four children followed (David Levi b McCook 1960, Susan Marie b North Platte 1965, Mary Jo b New Brunswick, NJ 1967 & Cindy May b. Grand Rapids, MI 1968). I took leave without pay from the NWS 1959-62. I attended McCook Jr. College '59-60, Univer-sity of MI at Ann Arbor NI 60-62 and returned to North Platte as a meteorologist-/forcaster with the NWS. Joanne & I pur-chased a home and lived in McPherson Addition on the west edge of North Platte. I worked for the NWS and attended North Platte Jr. College part time. In 1967 I received a NWS scholarship at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. In February 1968 I was selected “agricultural meteorolo-gist'' at Grand Rapids, MI and in 1976 was promoted to Meteorologist in Charge of the Grand Rapids office of the NWS. I commuted to Kalamazoo, MI for part time classes and in 1970 received a Bachelor of Science degree from western Michigan University.

Joanne and I were divorced in 1971. On Dec. 16, 1973 I married Linda J. Wright (of Ionia, MI) at Stanton, MI. We were divorced July 11, 1980. On May 7, 1982 Kathleen M. Oxley West (of Blooming Prairie, MN) and I were married at the Mayflower church in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1983 I became a member of the Catholic Faith. One of my lifelong ambitions had been to learn ot fly. That dream was realized in 1984 when I received a private pilot license, followed in 1985 by an instrument pilot license. Since then I have enjoyed piloting myself and Kathy to various parts of the country. This fall (1987) we moved into a condominium in the Grand Rapids area and are looking forward to a more leisurely and care free lifestyle that will allow us to enjoy the many seasonal beauties of Michigan, allow more time to travel etc.

My parents wanted to name me Jack, but “Doc'' Howell said there was no such name so “John'' appeared on my birth certificate, but I have gone by “Jack'' all of my life.