Orville Dale Cooley

1903 - 1994  (91 years)

• Name	Orville Dale Cooley  [1]
  Birth	5 Apr 1903	Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Education	Colorado
  	University of Denver
  	Bachelor of Arts in Journalism,
  Name	Dale
  Death	12 May 1994	Riverside, Riverside Co, California   [2, 4]
  Burial	17 May 1994	Pershing Memorial Cemetery, Limon, Lincoln Co, Colorado   [5]
  Person ID	I16	Cooley Miller Sears Barnhouse
  Last Modified	13 Aug 2022

  
  

  Father	Robert Berton Cooley,   b. 15 Oct 1875, McGregor, Clayton Co, Iowa d. 12 Dec 1962, Akron, Washington Co, Colorado (Age 87 years)
  Mother	Carrie Louella Miller,   b. 27 May 1883, Beaman, Grundy Co, Iowa d. 10 Aug 1973, Akron, Washington Co, Colorado (Age 90 years)
  Marriage	3 Jan 1903	Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska   [6, 8]
  	MARRIED At Pierce, Saturday afternoon by Judge Williams Bert Cooley and Miss Lou Miller. The contracting parties both reside northwest of Plainview and are will and favorably known by all. They will make their home with Mr. Cooley's parents for the present. Judge: J.A. Williams, Plainview, Nebraska presiding; Present: Herbert Merton Cooley and Alvina Miller. We extend congratulations. [6, 7]
  Family ID	F6	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Alice Mildred Skinner,   b. 26 Mar 1905, Clarence, Shelby Co, Missouri d. 28 Oct 1996, Riverside, Riverside Co, California (Age 91 years)
  Marriage	11 Jul 1926	Otis, Washington Co, Colorado   [9, 10]
  Children	1. Robert Leonard Cooley,   b. 25 Jan 1933, Otis, Washington Co, Colorado d. 14 Nov 2013, Menifee, Riverside Co, California (Age 80 years)   2. Living
  Family ID	F26	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Aug 2022

  
  

• Notes

  Orville Dale Cooley was born April 5, 1903 in a small house in Plainview, Nebraska. He started school at McLean, Nebraska primarily because his father, Robert Berton, had a job teaching there. It was the year Halley's Comet was visible (1910) and he went outside each evening to see it. He recalls his mother (Carrie Louella Miller) telling him he would see it again "...but I would be an old man when I did. I did see the comet return in 1986 but I didn't feel nearly as old as my mother said I would!" He went to Colorado with his parents March 1, 1910. They had taken a homestead nine miles northwest of Flagler. They had tried to farm but the weather was bad 1910-1911 so both parents were employed as rural teachers in schools north of Flagler. R.B. taught at the Huntley School and Lou taught at the Patten School. In 1911 Dale's father (R.B. or "Bert") started a newspaper in Otis, Colorado, "The Otis Independent". In 1914 with the untimely death of his father's twin brother, Herbert Merton ("Mert") who ran a newspaper in Crofton, Nebraska, Bert sold the Otis Independent and the family moved to Crofton to continue the running Mert's business. Bert eventually could not tolerate the climate in eastern Nebraska, having severe allergies, so in November 1916 the family repurchased the Otis Independent and once again took up residence in that tiny Washington County town. Dale was employed in his father's newspaper but business "was something less than sensational" so, as eldest child in the family, he worked other jobs around the town. He was a cream tester, a soda jerk in more than one drug store, a harvester (pitching wheat to a threshing machine), and a railroad extra on a gang consisting of two Native Americans, 71 Mexican nationals and an Italian boss. Later he got a job in a clothing store where he "something of the cleaning and pressing business, aside from waiting on trade." With the help of a Methodist minister Dale obtained a scholarship to the University of Denver and started school in the fall semester of 1923. While still attending DU he married Mildred Skinner whose father, L.E. Skinner, operated a general merchandise store in Otis. They had gone to school together but Dale says they were not childhood sweethearts. They were married for almost 68 years. Dale and Mildred had two children, Robert Leonard, born 25 Jan 1933 in Otis, Colorado, and Jill Irene, born 17 Jul 1935 in Akron, Colorado. Dale and his cousin Ronald D. Cooley owned and operated The Limon Leader from 15 Feb 1937 through 1 Jun 1972. Dale was very active in state press affairs. He was a member of the board of directors of the Colorado Press Association for several terms and then served as vice president in 1960 and president of the organization in 1961. Also, he was a life member of the Denver Press Club. He was active in Republican politics serving as county chairman for two terms and as a precinct committeeman and delegate to state conventions numerous times. He was one of the founders of the Lincoln County Colorado Historical Society serving as a co-editor of a county history, "Where the Wagons Rolled". Dale was a member of the AF and AM Masonic Lincoln Lodge #146 in Limon, Colo; a 50-year member of Kappa Sigma social fraternity; a member of Sigma Delta Chi professional journalist fraternity. He was a member of the Limon board of education for two terms during which time it was instrumental in acquiring 15 acres of land upon which school buildings and athletic facilities now stand. Dale was active in the organization of the Limon Chamber of Commerce in 1946 and he was a member of the Limon Town Board for two terms. On August 5, 1989 Dale and Mildred moved to Riverside, California to be near their son and daughter and other family members who had preceded them to the area. Dale died 12 May 1994 and his body was returned to Limon to be intered at the Pershing Memorial Cemetery with Masonic graveside services.

  
  

• Sources

  [S398] Carrie Louella Miller interviewed by Daniel Berton Cooley 1968 , CL Miller Cooley Bible. [S47] Limon Leader - Dale, (Limon, Lincoln Co, Colorado, 1994), v.83, No.20, 19 May 1994 (Reliability: 3). [S644] United States Govenment, wwii draft reg, Serial number T191, Order nr 10221; aged 38 yrs; b. April 5, 1903 (Reliability: 3). [S321] State of California, California State Library, Sacramento, Calif , Calif Death Index, Place: Riverside; Date: 12 May 1994; Social Security: 523420018 (Reliability: 3). [S566] Find A Grave website founder Jim Tipton, Findagrave, Memorial ID 67050235 (Reliability: 3). [S414] Pierce County, State of Nebraska, Nebraska Pierce Marriage, page 468 (Reliability: 3). [S415] Neb Plainview News, (Vol XI, No. 2, Friday, Jan 9, 1903). [S763] https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q213-S6TF : 28 November 2018 , Nebraska marriage index, Marriage, Pierce, Nebraska, US, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln; FHL microfilm 2,021,735.; Berton Cooley and Luella Miller, 03 Jan 1903 (Reliability: 3). [S771] State of Colorado, Division of Vital Statistics, Colo marriages, (Ancestry.com. Colorado, U.S., Select County Marriages, 1863-2018 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2020. ), State of Colorado Marriage license #1560 (Reliability: 3). [S47] Limon Leader - Dale, (Limon, Lincoln Co, Colorado, 1994), Dale dates (Reliability: 3).