John W. Cooley, who passed away April 24, 2020, was born Aug. 13, 1933, the sixth child of Monroe A. Cooley and Cora M. Stultz Cooley.
Mr. Cooley is survived by his wife Doris J. Bennett Cooley. They were married Nov. 22, 1958. Since 1978, John lived Indianapolis, Indiana, near his two daughters, Kim Long (and husband Gary) and Tammy Christie, his six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his three brothers and two sisters: Beecher Cooley, Mary Ruth Alley, Hollis Cooley, Floyd Cooley, and Katherine Jenkins.
Mr. Cooley is survived by his two sisters, Daphene Richardson and Geraldine Hickey, who both reside in White County, Tennessee. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
He attended Lamb school for eight years, a two-teacher school in Wildcat Cove that closed long ago. He graduated from White County High School, in 1955, where he played football and served as editor of the award-winning school paper and co-editor of the yearbook. Upon graduation, he received the Balfour award, the highest award given to a graduating student at the time.
Mr. Cooley worked his way through Tennessee Tech where he received a degree in accounting, in 1955. He was involved in several Tennessee Tech activities and was selected to appear in Who’s Who in Colleges and Universities. Mr. Cooley received his Distinguished Alumni award, in 1976.
He earned his master’s in Business Administration from Syracuse University, in 1965, where he received his lifetime membership in the Beta Gamma Sigma honorary scholastic fraternity. Mr. Cooley also participated in residence studies at the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, and the Senior Executive Managers in Government at Harvard University. He also took evening postgraduate courses at the University of Alabama, George Washington University, and other universities.
Mr. Cooley was active in Methodist churches in five states, serving in almost every layman position at the local church level. He and his wife, Doris, served 20 years as Methodist Youth Fellowship counselors.
He retired from the federal government, in 1994, after 39 years with the Department of Defense, the last 20 years at the senior executive level. He served on active duty, in the U.S. Navy, in 1956 and 1957. He worked for nine years in the office of the Secretary of Defense and three years as the deputy director of the finance and accounting in the office of the Comptroller of the Army, all in the Pentagon. He served as Deputy Commander for Army Finance and Accounting Plans Policies and Systems at the Financial and Accounting Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, for over 10 years. He received the Distinguished Civilian Service award from the Secretary of the Army. In addition, Mr. Cooley was a part-time adjunct member of the graduate school faculty for about 20 years at American University, Indiana Wesleyan University, and the University of Indianapolis.
Mr. Cooley was active in numerous professional and service organizations. He served as National President of the Association of Government Accountants. He received most of his major awards within the field of Government Accounting, including the prestigious King award (the highest honor in the field of government accounting at the time). He was active in Lawrence Kiwanis Club for over 15 years where he was named as distinguished club president by the Indiana Kiwanis Governor.
Mr. Cooley was a prolific writer. He authored a book planning for retirement and over 50 articles published in professional journals, some award winning. He also authored a humor column, “Cooley’s Comedy Corner,” for over 20 years that was published in many accounting newsletters around the country. John authored numerous other articles, including periodic feature articles published over the years by The Sparta Expositor. He was a sports writer for The Expositor in the 1950s. Even though he lived in other states, Mr. Cooley kept in close touch with family and friends in White County.
In consideration of the health of family and friends, a private graveside service with full military honors presented by the Veterans’ Honor Guard were conducted at Highland Cemetery.
Hunter Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
