Alexandra Cooley Obituary

ALEXANDRA "ALEX" FATIMA
(MENDES) COOLEY
March 16, 1940 ~ July 10, 2014

Alexandra Fatima Cooley, nee Mendes, passed away on July 10 in Portland, Oregon. Alexandra, known to her family and friends as Alex, was born on March 16, 1940 in Funchal, Madeira Islands, Portugal to Julia and Amandio Mendes. Following her father's immigration to the United States in 1946, Alex, her mother, and brother, joined her father in 1948 and settled with her family in Tillamook, Oregon, where she attended Sacred Heart Academy and spent her first year of high school at Sacred Heart High School. In 1955, Alex's family moved to Portland, where she graduated in the class of 1958 from Washington High School. She attended the University of Oregon for 1 year and in 1960, married a young Air Force Airman Arthur "Jack" Cooley.
Following her husband's tour of duty, which concluded in South Dakota, Alex and Jack, lived in Portland, Oregon where, in 1961, she had her first child, Lisa. Then in 1962, they moved to Seattle, Washington where she gave birth to her son, Mark. When her husband joined United Airlines in San Francisco, California, the family relocated to San Mateo where her third child, Laura, was born in 1963. Alex and her husband lived in San Mateo until 1997, when her husband retired. They lived briefly in Gresham, Oregon until moving to their present residence in Vancouver, Washington. While in San Mateo, Alex received a Bachelor of Arts from San Francisco State University, and she worked as a career counselor and in the classroom at Aragon High School. She retired in 1996 after 22 years of service to the San Mateo County School District.
After retirement, Alex was involved with the Emblem Club Scholarship Committee, St. Joseph's Church Multiple Cultural Fair, and other volunteer activities.
Alex is survived by her husband, of almost 54 years, Arthur "Jack" Cooley of Vancouver, Washington; her three children, Lisa Dayton of Livermore, CA, Mark Cooley of Gretna, NE and Laura McGeever of San Jose, CA; her brother ,Louis A. Mendes of Sparks, NV; and her sister, Nancy Lopes of Vancouver, WA. She was the proud grandmother of six grandchildren: Christopher, Kevin, Jill, Katie, Alycia, and Michael, whom she adored.
Please sign her Guest Book at www.columbian.com/obits.