Larry D. Cooley

Larry D. Cooley, 72, of Robinson, IL, passed away on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Haven of Ridgeview in Oblong, IL. He and his twin brother Terry were born in Robinson on July 9, 1954, to Oral and Elizabeth "Liz" (Dunlap) Cooley. He grew up in Robinson and graduated from Robinson High School with the Class of 1973. He took building trades while he was there, and the project he was proudest of was a boat he built with his own hands. When it was finished, they hauled it down to the river at Hutsonville and put it in the water. After graduation, he took a job at Tempco, and life was moving the way a young man's life is supposed to move.

Then came September 9, 1976. He was at the Woodworth Hotel when he was shot during a domestic disturbance that was not his own, and it transformed his life. He was twenty-two years old. He lost the use of his right side. What he did not lose was himself. He learned how to live all over again. His mother made sure of it. Liz pushed him to do everything one-handed, and one by one, he took the ordinary tasks of a day back for himself.

He even went back to school. Larry spent about twenty years living in the Carbondale and Carterville area, and while he was there, he earned an Associate in Art from John A. Logan College. He was all about the mind. Psychology fascinated him, and what he really wanted to understand was people. So after he moved back home to Robinson, he kept learning, and in 2003, he graduated from Lincoln Trail College as a Special Education Paraprofessional. All the while, he kept his own home and lived independently until the last fifteen years of his life.

Independence was never the same thing as being alone. Larry made friends easily, and he kept people around him. His family was the center of it. He loved his siblings, his nieces and nephews, his cousins, all of them, and they loved him back. When Larry bought a wrestling pay-per-view, his nephews and niece came over and packed into his house to watch it with him. Wrestling was fun. Baseball was different. He collected thousands of baseball cards through the years and was a lifelong (and die-hard) St. Louis Cardinals fan, as evidenced by a wardrobe filled with the color red.

And oh, how he loved cats. Larry fed every cat in the neighborhood, and if one of them decided to stay, he let it. He collected up to nine at one point, though his mom made sure they all got fixed. Needless to say, he kept Debbie Dix at the Humane Society on speed dial!

There was a reason he had so much to give. Twice, while they were trying to bring him back after he was shot, Larry saw a bright light. From that day on, he became a true believer. He was saved and baptized in the 1980s while living in Carterville, and he spent the rest of his life wanting to understand what he had been shown. Along with his mother and sister, he attended a number of churches, including the Robinson Free Methodist Church and Faithway Christian Church, where Larry brought his questions to his pastor, Joe Griffith.

He doesn't need to ask anymore. What Larry saw twice from a hospital bed, he sees now without the veil. He's not learning to live all over again. He's just living. Both hands, no questions, and an "I love ya" waiting for those he leaves behind.

He is survived by his twin brother, Terry Cooley; his brother, Doug (Debbie) Cooley; his sister, Nancy (Greg) Johnson; several nieces and nephews; his aunts, Sarah Maus and Sandra Dunlap; as well as several cousins.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Charles and Lillie Dunlap; his paternal grandparents, Dewey and Pearl Cooley; his parents, Oral and Elizabeth Cooley; and his sister-in-law, Linda Cooley.

The family would like to thank the staff at Haven of Ridgeview in Oblong for the wonderful care they gave Larry.

A time of visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 18th, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. Funeral services will immediately follow at 12:00 p.m. at the funeral home, with Celebrant Curt Goodwine officiating. During the service, there will be a time of sharing, and all who knew and loved Larry are invited to speak. Cremation will follow the service, and a private committal service will be held at the Hardinville Cemetery at a later date. In honor of his love of cats, memorials may be made to the Crawford County Humane Society, and envelopes will be available at the funeral home.