Roger Atkinson Pryor Cooley IV, 87, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2012. He was at home with his family. Roger was born in Rocky Mount, NC on September 20, 1924, the son of the Honorable Harold Dunbar Cooley and Madeline Strickland Cooley both of Nashville, NC.
He grew up in Nashville, NC until his father was sent to Congress in 1933. He then spent part of the year in Nashville and part in Washington, DC. He attended Episcopal High School, Alexandria, VA and graduated from Millard Prep School in Washington D.C. He served in the US Army and then entered the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and later its law school. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity as had been his father. His love of reading and the classics was nurtured during his time at Chapel Hill.
As a young man he spent summers overseeing the running of the family farms in Nash County, a place he always loved and came back to. He then worked in sales at Dillard Paper Company in Greensboro, NC where he won honors for his work. Roger then took a position at American Machine and Foundry (AMF) in New York and Richmond where he had the opportunity to travel extensively overseas representing AMF products. He then moved his family to Alexandria, VA outside Washington as his parents were still living in the DC area. Roger took a job in marketing as a commodities specialist with the US Department of Agriculture. There finished his career living in the DC area for 25 years. He was active in church work at Truro Church, Fairfax, VA as long time member of the vestry as well as serving on various other committees and was a member of Belle Haven Country Club and The Assembly in Alexandria, VA.
In 1990 he retired and he and Barbara moved to Raleigh to be closer to family and to return to the state they both loved. Here he was in leadership at Bible Study Fellowship for 9 years. He loved leading men’s small group study and continued to teach until his health was a prohibiting factor. He was a member of St. Michael’s Church and Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Harriett Davis Cooley Lawrence.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Barbara Smith Cooley, his daughter, Madeline Strickland Cooley Flagler (David Woodfin) of Wilmington, NC and his son, Harold Dunbar Cooley II (Kimberley Moore) of Raleigh. He leaves 6 grandchildren who were the joy of his life. He enjoyed nothing more than taking them to the circus, to play at the farm, to the State Fair, and attending their soccer games and tennis matches whenever he could. With these fond memories he leaves Mary Gaston Flagler of McLean, VA, Julia Southerland Flagler of Wilmington, NC, Rachel McGee Cooley, Harold Dunbar Cooley III, Emory Moore Cooley, and Davis Atkinson Cooley of Raleigh, NC.
The family will receive friends on Thursday July 19, 5-7 PM at the Jordan house, 549 North Blount Street, Raleigh.
A funeral service will be held Friday July 20 at 11 AM in the All Saints Chapel at St. David’s School, 3400 White Oak Road, Raleigh with burial following at Oakwood Cemetery.
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