Peter Wilkins Cooley

Peter Wilkins Cooley, 57, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, May 13th at his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was born in Syracuse, to Jerome Oliver and Marilyn O'Dowd Cooley, who still reside on the shores of Oneida Lake in Cicero. Pete graduated from Cicero High School in 1977 where he was a four year, three sport varsity athlete who starred as captain and linebacker for the Golden Eagles County Championship football teams from 1974-1976. Pete attended Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration where he played two years of football for the Big Red, graduating in the class of 1981. He spent the summer before his senior year of college bussing tables at Lakeshore Yacht and Country Club, where he met waitress and incoming Cornellian, Mary Bronner, to whom he devoted the next 32 years of his life. After Cornell, Pete moved to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend Stetson University College of Law, graduating with his JD in 1984.
Pete next joined his fiancée Mary Bronner in Philadelphia while she completed her M.D. and residency at Penn. They soon adopted their first of five retired racing greyhounds, each of whom he loved dearly. His final dog, a pitbull named Maxwell, was a great companion during their many cross country road trips, over which they logged 50,000 miles in one year alone.
In Philly, Peter joined the law firm of Carroll & Carroll, where he specialized in criminal defense and disciplinary law for the next 27 years.
Following their marriage in 1990, Peter and Mary moved to Seattle, WA where Peter became a great steelhead and salmon fisherman in the Pacific Northwest. Their daughter, Lauren, was born in 1994 and became the center of his life. Their family made big moves to Cleveland, OH and later Park City and Salt Lake City, UT, where Peter continued to practice law, fish, and play ball.
After years of listening to her parents' tales of life in Ithaca, Lauren, too, attended Cornell, where she will graduate next week with a degree in Animal Science.
Pete's commitment to his friends was evident in every community in which he lived. In honor of his late law school friends, he created and managed the Rich Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial Scholarship for Stetson University law students who played intramural sports as they had. For 24 years, he organized NCAA basketball tournament trips with his lifelong friends. Pete served as commissioner of the Seattle Men's Senior Baseball League and was still active as a player in the Salt Lake City Men's Senior Baseball League.
Peter was forever bringing his friends together to participate in the Cicero-North Syracuse High School baseball alumni games and golf tournaments. Pete was in Ithaca annually for the Cornell Football Association Golf Tournament with his foursomes, clad in red knickers. And for the past three years, he has recreated the Cicero Swampers baseball team for a glorious showdown against Albany at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. Peter is the originator and defending champion of the Maple Bay Irish Fishing Derby and will forever be remembered for iconic gatherings at the camp.
In addition to his loving parents, wife, and daughter, Peter is survived by brother, Jon (Debbie) Cooley of Cicero; sisters, Anne (Kathy) Cooley of Liverpool, and Shawna (Bill) Gunter of Deatsville, AL, and many other devoted family members.
Pete's Life Celebration will be held at the Fergerson Funeral Home, 215 S. Main St. North Syracuse, on Thursday, May 19 from 4 to 7 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, 8229 Brewerton Road, Cicero on Friday, May 20 at 12 noon.
Donations may be made to the Rich Nenezian and Jim Jones Memorial Scholarship at Stetson University College of Law, 1401 61st St S, Gulfport, FL 33707 or Greyhound Adoption of Ohio, 7122 Country Ln, Chagrin Falls, OH 44023 www.GreyhoundAdoptionofOH.org

Date of Death: May 13, 2016