The late James R. and Mary L. Cooley

James R. and Mary L. Cooley each graduated from Bloomington (WI) High School, which is now part of the consolidated River Ridge School District. They were ardent supporters of education. A testament to this is the fact that all five boys raised on the couples’ rural
Bloomington home attended varying forms of secondary education upon graduation from Bloomington High School.

Jim and Mary’s was a true agricultural partnership. While Jim worked at John Deere Works in Dubuque, Mary tended to the boys and household and farm chores. Jim realized that he needed to supplement the family’s income from the 83-acre farm and worked at John Deere to support his true passion… owning and operating a farm, just as generations of his family did before him.

To celebrate the 40th year since the Cooley family moved to the family farm, the James R. and Mary L. Cooley Scholarship has been formed. Mary, deceased since 1992, sensed the value of education and urged her sons to achieve in the classroom at early ages. Both Jim and Mary also admired free thinking, as evidenced by the fact that the five boys, Roger, Tom, Dennis, Rich, and Rodney each selected career paths unique from one another. Jim passed away in 2024.

In celebration of Jim and Mary Cooley’s commitment to the field of agriculture and the positive effect education can have on the youth, the James R. and Mary L. Cooley Scholarship was created.
Scholarship.