Obituary of LTC, Phil M. Cooley, USAF

Lt. Col. Phil Cooley, Retired passed away in a tragic car accident on January 6th, 2015. He leaves behind his wife of 33 years, Kathy, and three children, Ryan, Stephen and Suzanne. Ryan works for SNC as an avionics technician. Stephen works for the Olympic Committee of Colorado in their broadcast department, Suzanne is a Master of Divinity Candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary. Phil and Kathy have lived in Colorado for 20 years. He is also survived by his father Paul, Stepmother Nancy, his sister, Liz and his brother, Dan. He was preceded in death by his mother Joyce Cooley.Phil began his military career in frozen north of Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota as a missile Launch Officer. His next assignment was at the University of Cincinnati as a ROTC instructor. They migrated to Colorado when Phil began work at Peterson AFB . He worked in many departments on both Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB, where he got to know many people. Phil was universally liked at work being a hard worker and an easy-going soul. When he retired from the Air Force after 24 years of service he was hired as a civilian Department of Defense worker as a GPS System Analyst. He worked there for three years.Phil was much respected in his work life and in his personal life. He dedicated himself to several charitable works with both financial support as well as boots on the ground help. His charities included Feed My Starving Children, Trans World Radio, Teen Missions International, his church's Sunday school program, youth group , as well as short-term missions. He was a man who also enjoyed many hobbies, mostly involving cars, which were his delight. He had an '85 Buick Riviera that was on the list of things to restore once he had time. He attended a weekly car model club with his sons.What he was most looking forward to after retirement was spending more time with his wife and family. He and Kathy planned to travel, sharing their interest in photographing nature, keeping active in their church and with their friends, and growing old together. Visitation will be from 8:00AM-10:00AM, Monday, January 12 at Central United Methodist Church, 4373 Galley Road, followed by a funeral service at 10:0AM.Graveside Service 11:00AM, Tuesday, January 13, Ft. Lyon National Cemetery, 15700 County Road HH, Las Animas, CO.Funeral Home:The Springs Funeral Services3115 East Platte AvenueColorado Springs, , COUS 80909 Events Cemetery Tuesday, January 13, 2015 11:00AM Fort Lyon National Cemetery 15700 Country Road HH Las Animas, CO Phone: 303-761-0117 Service Monday, January 12, 2015 10:00AM Central United Methodist Church 4373 Galley Road Colorado Springs, CO 80915 Phone: 719-597-6642 Visitation Monday, January 12, 2015 8:00AM - 10:00AM Central United Methodist Church 4373 Galley Road Colorado Springs, CO 80915 Phone: 719-597-6642