Judy Cooley (1924-2016), of Edmonton, New York, served as a radio operator in the United States Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) from 1944-1947.Born in Edmeston, New York, on February 24, 1924, her parents were happy to welcome their 5th child and only baby girl. All 4 of Cooley’s older brothers went on to enlist in the U.S. Military before and during World War II. She graduated from the local Edmeston High School and began attending New York State College for Teachers in Albany. A brief and sudden illness of her mother left Cooley with no other choice but to leave college in her sophomore year to care for her, staying a year to see to her recovery.

Enlisting in the Women’s Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in August 1944, Cooley joined the Navy branch out of neighboring Rochester and was sent to Hunter College in New York City. Hunter College served as the location for her basic training and after her completion they placed her in the Ship to Shore radio operations. This required additional courses and she was transported by train to Oxford, OH.

Her first assignment after radio operation school was at the Naval Radio Station in Cheltenham, MD. Her ranks included seaman 1st class to Radiomen 3rd class before her discharge from service. Cooley met and married her first husband, Arlo Clifford Smith, in Cheltenham and traveled with him to his various assignment. The marriage was brief due to Smith dying from an illness he had contracted while serving as chef for a 6-month submarine expedition.

After her honorable discharge February 1946 and still grieving the sudden loss of her husband, Cooley moved back to Edmeston to be close to family and friends. She took a librarian position in town and was provided with housing during her employment. Her next occupation would be with First National Bank of Edmeston and this would open the opportunity to meet her future second husband. Her and Ansel Cooley married in the early 1960s and remained until he was relocated to Centre Hall, PA, in 1964. The couple remained in Pennsylvania until their retirement.

North Carolina became their home and Ansel passed away in the early 2010s, which led Julia to move into an apartment in High Point until 2016. She moved in with her only daughter that year and spent the final months of her life surrounded by her daughter’s family. Becoming sick with pneumonia in the summer of 2016 left Julia with a large mass in one of her lungs that became terminal in October.