Funeral Services For Robert Cooley

Funeral services for Robert H. "Bob" Cooley, age 97, of Norfolk, Nebraska, formerly of Oakdale, Nebraska, will be held Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Brockhaus-Harlan Funeral Home in Tilden. John Petersen will officiate, with burial in Oakdale Cemetery in Oakdale. 

Military Honors will be provided by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7603, American Legion Post 170, and American Legion Riders.

Visitation will be Thursday from noon until service time at Brockhaus-Harlan Funeral Home in Tilden.

Bob died Friday, November 6, 2015, at Heritage of Bel-Air in Norfolk.

Robert Henry Cooley, son of Fred and Minnie (Marwood) Cooley, was born November 6, 1918, on the family farm south of Clearwater, Nebraska. He attended school at District 70 through the 8th grade. District 148 for the 9th and 10th grades, and graduated from Neligh High School in 1936. Bob farmed one year on the original family farm north of Clearwater and worked for farmers in the area until enlisting in the army April 10, 1941. He took his training in Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and was transferred to Camp San Luis Obispo, California. 

Bob was married to Thelma Adams August 5, 1943, at Glendale, California. He served in the states until April 1944, went to England in May, and crossed into France in June. Bob served with the 35th Infantry Division in France, Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium, and Germany, and was at the Elb River when the war ended. He returned to the states and was discharged October 17, 1945.

Bob and Thelma made their home in California where she had lived throughout the war. He went to work for General Motors on May 23, 1946. Their son Lynn was born on September 5, 1946. He continued working for General Motors until retirement in 1975, when he returned to Nebraska and built a home west of Oakdale. Later they moved to Norfolk.

Survivors include his wife, Thelma of 72 years; son, Lynn (Karen) Cooley of Pascagoula, Mississippi; four grandchildren, Chad, Kimaree, Adam and Marysa; four great-grandchildren; and four sisters, Marjorie Hecox of Omaha, Nebraska, Elsie Rittscher of Iowa, Mary Jane (Sid) Magdanz of Omaha, Nebraska, and Jane McIntyre of Grand Island, Nebraska.

He was preceded in death by his parents.