COOLEY, JACK R.

by Jack R. Cooley

Entry F83 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Jack R. Cooley

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.