Bessie Lee Hales Cooley

Bessie Lee Hales Cooley Charter Member - Community Missionary Church Bessie Lee Hales Cooley, 81, 702 E. 19th St., passed away Thursday, May 19, 2005, at Hamot Medical Center. She was born on December 10, 1923, in Heidelberg, Miss., daughter of the late Arisco Hales, Sr. and Clara Goins Hales. She was a 60 year resident of Erie. She was retired from St. Vincent Health Center’s Housekeeping Department and had previously worked at the former Richford Hotel. She was a member of the Booker T. Washington Center’s Seniors Program and attended Bible study at the Center. She was a charter member of Community Missionary Baptist Church where she was a Mother of the Church, past member of the Trustees Wives Board, and sang in the choir. She was a formerly member of Morning Star Baptist Church. She enjoyed gardening and cultivating her yard. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Luther Cooley; a daughter, Clara Net Whetstone; two brothers, Rhubin and Roland Hales, and two sisters, Rosie Lee Reid Jordan and Lee Anna McGill. She leaves to cherish her memory two granddaughters, Darlene Dumas (Jim), West Memphis, Arkansas, and Deborah Morast, Buffalo, N.Y.; a brother, Arisco Hales, Jr. Niagara Falls, N.Y.; three sisters, Ruth Anna Jordan and Ora D. Amington, both of Heidelberg, Miss. and Mary McCray, Buffalo, N.Y.; a special niece, Mary Reid DeBerry; eight grandchildren; 17 great great grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Friends may visit with the family on Monday from 5 to 9 p.m. at Community Baptist Church, 1001 German St., and may attend a funeral service at the church on Tuesday at 11 a.m., conducted by Rev. Herlis Murphy. Interment in Erie County Memorial Gardens. Funeralization by Law Funeral Home, 1861 Buffalo Road.