Dale Leroy Cooley

Notes:

Note: May birthdate from date on picture.

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living

Herbert married Donna Lee Mountain in 1960. Donna was born on 16 Feb 1934 in Washington County, Colorado; died on 31 Jan 2016 in Longmont, Boulder Co, Colorado; was buried about Feb 2016 in Akron Cemetery, Washington Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Merton Beth Cooley was born to Herbert Merton (Mert) and Elizabeth Holliday Cooley on Dec 7, 1907, in Crofton, Neb. His mother died in 1908 from complications of childbirth. His father was editor and publisher of the Crofton Journal so Beth and his elder brother, Ronald literally grew up in the newspaper business. On 14 Nov 1914, a car in which Herbert Merton was a passenger plunged off the Yankton pontoon bridge over the Missouri River drowning him and another passenger in the car. His body was never recovered. Robert Berton Cooley (a twin brother of Herbert Merton) and his wife Carrie Louella Miller had homesteaded to a farm near Flagler Colorado in 1910 and in 1912 Bert had started the Otis Independent in Otis, Colo., 59 miles north of Flagler. Upon learning of his brother's death, Bert sold the Independent and he and his wife and two sons moved back to Crofton to take over the newspaper. They immediately took in and raised Beth and his elder brother Ronald as members of the family. Beth was still just a small boy at this time but he was already working in the family business. "I could read upside down when I was about four or five, and I was hand-setting type before I went to school. To get the paper out, we were hand-setting type day and night. Us kids never knew anything else." In 1916, because of a worsening allergy condition, Bert sold the Crofton Journal and the family returned to Colorado to resume operation of the Otis Independent, this time with two more "sons" in tow. Beth attended school in Otis, graduating from Otis High School in 1927. He also proved to be a fine football player. In his younger years, Beth played trumpet in a local dance band called "The Night Hawks" and became an excellent performer. After graduation, Beth attended the University of Colorado for a short time, later moving back to Otis to help Bert with the newspaper. Beth married Viola Myfanwy Kyffin on May 25, 1929, in Otis and they had one son, Herbert Merton. His Uncle Bert continued to operate the Independent until the fall of 1928 when, in a trade, he swapped the Otis Independent for ownership in the Monte Vista Tribune, Monte Vista, Colorado. Within a few months, Bert disposed of the Tribune and the family moved to Akron, Colo., where he bought the Akron Semi-Weekly News and the Akron Reporter combining the two papers on February 28, 1929 into the Akron News-Reporter. Its first edition was published on 7 Mar 1929. Beth was an adept Linotype operator and he had a natural bent for mechanics of all kinds. Through the years he became known as one of the best repairmen on all printing machinery and was sought after by other newspapers in northeastern Colorado for repair work. On the retirement of the original owners of the Akron News-Reporter, his Uncle Bert and Aunt Lou, Beth and his cousin, Coyne Cooley, became the sole owners of the Akron News-Reporter, which they continued to operate until 1979. All in all, Beth had worked in the weekly newspaper business almost 68 years: from a four-year-old kid folding newspapers at the Crofton Journal to the sale of the Akron News-Reporter in 1979. In keeping with his interest in mechanics, he had a life-long love affair with the automobile (his favorite, Buick). Beth was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and a charter member of the Akron Rotary Club. He was honored as a Paul Harris Fellow. Merton Beth Cooley died at Sterling Regional MedCenter on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1992 ae 84. Funeral services were held Friday, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. from the First Presbyterian Church in Akron with Rev. Kyle Weir officiating. Interment followed in the Akron Cemetery with Yeamans & Gordon Memorial Chapel in charge of arrangements.

Merton married Viola Myfanwy Kyffin on 25 May 1929 in Golden, Jefferson Co, Colorado. Viola (daughter of Seth James Kyffin and Julia S. Oram) was born on 20 Jan 1908 in Denver, Denver Co, Colorado; died on 1 May 1995 in Brush (Sunset Manor), Ft Morgan Co, Colorado; was buried on 4 May 1995 in Akron Cemetery, Washington Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Viola Myfanwy Cooley, 87, of Akron died Monday, May 1, 1995 at Sunset Manor Nursing Home in Brush. Funeral services were Thursday, May 4, [1995] at 10:30 a.m. from the First Presbyterian Church of Akron with Rev. Kyle Weir officiating. Interment followed in the Akron Cemetery with Yeamans & Gordon Memorial Chapel of Akron in charge of arrangements. Viola Myfanwy [Kyffin] Cooley was born Jan. 20, 1908 in Denver, Colo. to Seth J. and Judith (Oram) Kyffin. She was united in marriage to Merton Beth Cooley on May 25, 1929, and to this union was born one son, Herbert. Viola attended her first year of college at Colorado School of Music, transferring to Colorado State Teacher's College in Greeley, Colo, where she earnd her degree in elementary education. In addition to teaching school in the Akron School District, she served as principal in the elementary school for 14 years and was the elementary school librarian for 13 years.*
She had been a resident of Washington County since 1929. Viola held membership in many organizations, including Martha Washington No. 47; Order of the Eastern Star in Akron, Colo, of which she was a member for 51 years; Akron Book Chatter Club, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, AARP, ETA Bridge Club, and the First Presbyterian Church of Akron, Colo, where she played piano and organ for 60 years. Hobbies she enjoyed were playing the organ and piano, caring for her rose garden, and playing bridge with her friends. Those preceding her in death were her husband, Merton Beth, her son, Herbert, and one brother, Al Kyffin; four brothers-in-law, and two sisters-in-law. Survivors inclued her daughter-in-law, Donna Cooley of Akron; one brother, Maurice Kyffin of Lakewood, Colo, Mildred Cooley of Riverside, Calif., and Eleanor Cooley of Mountain Home, Iowa [error, should be Boise, Idaho]; four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. - Akron News-Reporter, v. 85 no. 11, Thursday May 11, 1995, Akron, Colo.
_________________*From the Denver Post, Monday, April 9. 1973 - COLORADO SPRINGS - Mrs. Viola K. Cooley of Akron, Colo., a teacher in schools for 41 years, was honored by the Colorado Education Association (CEA) at the 47th annual CEA Delegate Assembly at the Broadmoor Hotel. She is a native of Delta, Colo., and began her teaching career in Johnstown, Colo., after graduation from Colorado State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Colorado. For the past 12 years [since 1961] she has been a school librarian in Akron after serving as a classroom teacher and principal at Akron [Grade] School.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mert
• Occupation: Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska; newspaperman

Notes:

From Yankton Press and Dakotan, 4 Nov 1914
TRAGEDY AT MISSOURI RIVER
Two Men from Crofton lose lives at river early this morning
THE CAR PLUNGED INTO STREAM
TWO IN CAR ESCAPE AND TELL THRILLING STORY OF ACCIDENT O.W. Cass, a druggist of Crotfton Neb, and H.M. Cooley, editor of the Crofton Journal were drowned in the Missouri River at 2 o'clock this morning when Mr. Cass' auto, a Ford, plunged over the side of the pontoon bridge into 12 to 14 feet of water. O.D. Salley, barber, and L.S. Ross, jeweler, also of Crofton, were members of the party but although both experienced the terrible plunge into the river and hit the sandbar at the bottom, both managed to rise clear of the car and get to shore but hardly able to relate how; Salley especially, who was nearly drowned, is in a state of collapse over the loss of his intimate friend, Mr. Cooley.
[The bodies of Cass and Cooley were never found]

(Medical):Car plunged from the Yankton Pontoon Bridge into the Missouri River, body never recovered.

Occupation:
until his death in 1914

Herbert married Jane Elizabeth Holliday on 26 Apr 1905 in Holliday Farm, Knox Co, Nebraska. Jane (daughter of Hugh Sutton Holliday and Jane Dufton) was born on 20 Mar 1884 in Castle Sowerby, Cumberland, England; died on 1 Jan 1908 in Crofton, Knox Co, Nebraska; was buried about Jan 1908 in Pleasant View Cemetery, Pierce Co, Nebraska. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The following is from a newspaper clipping, just the story; no source, no dates. I will make an educated guess it was from the Plainview News, Plainview, Pierce Co, Nebraska, in January 1908.
Death of Mrs. Merton Cooley The sad intelligence was received in our city yesterday, announcing the sudden death of Mrs. Merton Cooley [Jane Elizabeth Holliday] at her home in Crofton [Knox County, Nebraska]. The remains will arrive here [probably Plainview] this afternoon and the funeral services will be conducted from the M.E. Church Friday. The deceased was the daughter of H.S. Holliday, and was well and favorably known by all in Plainview and vicinity. On April 26th, 1905, she was united in marriage to Merton Cooley, to which union were born two children, one son [now] twenty-one months of age [Ronald Delos Cooley] and another but two weeks old [Merton Beth Cooley]. Her death was caused from contracting a severe cold shortly after giving birth to their little son. The bereaved husband and other relatives have the heartfelt sympatthy of all in ths their sad hour of tribulation.

Obituary
Plainview Republican, Plainview, Nebraska, 9 Jan 1908
Jane Elizabeth Holliday was born March 20, 1884, in Hallfield, the country home of her parents in Castle Sowerby Parish, Cumberland county, England, and died at Crofton, Neb., Jan. 1, 1908, of acute peritonitis. While yet a child she was baptized in the Church of England. In 1892 she moved with her parents to Canada, remaining there but one year. During this brief stay the mother died. In 1893 she with her father and family came to Plainview, Nebr., where she resided until her marriage to Herbert Merton Cooley, April 26, 1905, when she with her husband moved to Crofton, Neb.; remaining there until her death. Mrs. Cooley was a true and faithful wife, a loving and solicitous mother, a kind and obliging neighbor. She was highly respected by all, for to know her was to love her. She leaves a devoted husband, two little sons, Ronald aged two years and a babe scarcely four weeks old; a father Hugh S. Holliday; three sisters, Martha who resides in California, Mary who lives at home and Hannah now Mrs. Jack Menret, three brothers, Robert, John and Hugh Jr.; other relatives and a host of friends to mourn her departure. All the near relatives were present at the funeral except her father who was confined at home on account of sickness and the sister in California. Impressive funeral services were held at the Plainview Methodist Episcopal church January 3, conducted by Rev. J. P. Yost, pastor, assisted by Rev. DeWeese of the Congregational church and Rev. Grey of the Baptist church. Her remains were laid to rest in the new cemetery north of town, there to await the "Glorious Resurrection Morn".

When some beloved voice that was to you
Both sound and sweetness faileth and deny
And silence, against which you dare not cry
Aches round you like a strong disease and new
What hope? What help? What music will undo
That silence to your sense! Not friendship's sigh
Not reason's subtle count. Nay none of these
Speak Thou availing Christ and fill this pause.
L.

CARD OF THANKSWe desire to express our heartfelt thanks to all who so kindly and tenderly assisted us in laying away our loved one - H. Merton Cooley and Family

(Research):Castle Sowerby, (or Sowerby-Castle), a parish in Leith ward, in the county of Cumberland, 2 miles S.E. of Hesket-Newmarket, 10 S. of Carlisle, and 11 N.W. of Penrith, its post town and railway station, being 295 from London. It lies within the limits of the forest of Inglewood, near the river Caldew, and includes the townships of Bustabeck Bound, How Bound, Row Bound, Southernby Bound, and Stockdalewath Bound. In How Bound formerly stood a castle, of which all traces have disappeared." [Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Cumberland was a historic county of North West England that had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. It bordered Northumberland to the east, County Durham to the southeast, Westmorland and Lancashire to the south, and Dumfriesshire in Scotland to the north. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 (excluding Carlisle from 1914) and now forms, along with Westmorland and parts of historic northern Lancashire, Cumbria.

Notes:

In his petition for naturalization, Seth Kyffin listed his birthplace as Wrexham, Wales which was a Registration District in Denbigshire according to Wales censuses
Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S. Penitentiary, Name Index to Inmate Case Files, 1895-1931
Name: Seth J. Kyffin
Incarceration Date: 29 Apr 1930
Inmate Number: 36372

(Research):Social Security Death Index Seth Kyffin
Name: Seth Kyffin
SSN: 523-09-7442Last Residence: 80215 Lakewood, Jefferson, Colorado, United States of America
Born: 19 Jul 1881
Died: Nov 1967
State (Year) SSN issued: Colorado (Before 1951)
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 about Seth James Kyffin
Name: Seth James Kyffin
County: Delta
State: Colorado
Birth Date: 19 Jul 1881
Race: White
FHL Roll Number: 1544482
DraftBoard: 0
U.S. Citizen:
Native son: No
Naturalized: YesCitizen by father's naturlization before registrant's majority: Yes
Nearest relative: Julia Kyffin, wife
xxx ?odge, Delta, Delta Co, Colorado
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 about Seth Kyffin
Name: Seth Kyffin
Date of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep 1881
Registration district: Auckland
Inferred County: Durham
Volume: 10a

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Seth Kyffin
Name: Seth Kyffin
Arrival Date: 6 Apr 1889
Birth Year: abt 1882
Age: 7
Gender: MalePort of Departure: Liverpool, England and Queenstown, Ireland
Destination: United States of America
Port of Arrival: New York
Port Arrival State: New York
Port Arrival Country: United States
Ship Name: AdriaticSearch Ship Database: Search the Adriatic in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database

Name: Seth J Kyffin
Home in 1900: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado
Age: 19
Birth Date: Jul 1881
Birthplace: Wales
Race: White
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1889
Relationship to head-of-house: Son
Father's name: Pierce Kyffin
Father's Birthplace: Wales
Mother's name: Jane Kyffin
Mother's Birthplace: Wales
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: View on Image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Pierce Kyffin 42
Jane Kyffin 44
Seth J Kyffin 19
John H Kyffin 15
Perce L Kyffin 13
Albert Kyffin 12
Frank Kyffin 5

Seth married Julia S. Oram on 8 Nov 1901 in Denver, Denver Co, Colorado. Julia (daughter of Charles D. Oram and Martha J. (Wife of Charles D. Oram) [?]) was born about 1882; died about 1959; was buried in Akron Cemetery, Washington Co, Colorado. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]