Obituaries

Rena Denise Cooley

Rena Denise Cooley (60) nee Hartman went home to meet her Savior Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
She was the cherished daughter of Barbara (William) Barnell and Robert Hartman, who preceded her in death. Rena was born in Sturgis, MI on Dec. 24, 1962 and graduated in 1980 from Sturgis Christian School, where she excelled in mathematics and enjoyed playing volleyball on the school team. She met her loving husband, Bruce Cooley, while working at The Chicken Coop Restaurant. They liked to say that Bruce started as Rena’s manager, but she soon became his manager when they married a couple years later in 1983.
Bruce and Rena started their family in southern Michigan before moving to central Illinois in 1995. Rena was a devoted mother to her four children. They fondly remember her lasagna and playing croquet on the lawn with her on cool summer evenings. In addition to being a homemaker, Rena worked as a florist at Casey’s Garden Shop as well as a clerk at Naturally Yours health food store in Bloomington-Normal, IL.
In the summer of 2014, the Cooleys settled in Crawfordville, where Rena became a dedicated member of River of Life Church. She cherished her personal relationship with God all her life and faithfully sought to reflect God’s love and truth in her every word and deed.
Rena loved to draw as a child, and she grew into a talented watercolorist as an adult. Her deep appreciation of God’s creation was evident in the beautiful hand-painted cards she shared with family and friends as well as her love of gardening, flower arranging, and nature walks. Rena especially loved to walk the beach with Bruce and her children at Alligator Point along the gulf shore.
Rena is survived by her husband Bruce Cooley, her children Kevin (Elaina) Cooley, Kayla (Taylor) Cooley-Wood, Kyle Cooley, and Karl Cooley, and siblings Brad (Gail) Hartman, Timothy Hartman, Darrel (Cherie) Hartman, Lowell (Kisha) Hartman, and Heather (Patrick) Smith.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 11 a.m. at Family Funeral Home, Harvey-Young Chapel. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

Skip and Trey Young along with Paula and Kimberly are assisting the family with arrangements. Family Funeral Home at Harvey Young Chapel. 850-926-5919 Familyfhc.com



Willard ‘Will’ Jerome Swanson

Willard (Will) Jerome Swanson was reunited with his beloved Alice on the morning of March 25th, 2023, after a separation of 10 weeks.
Born in his parents’ home in Pierson, Florida, nearly 91 years ago, he never failed to tell friends and family of the blessed life he lived. He was the youngest of five children, and is predeceased by his father Stanley Carl Adolpus Swanson, his mother, Lula Marion Ashcraft Anderson, his brother Edward, and his sisters Mary Orr, Anna Anderson, Verna Kingery, and great-grandson Price Schaub.
He grew up in a very different Florida, and marvelled at the life he lived, first as a high school senior who lied about his age to join the National Guard with his friends, then following his older brother Edward as a Naval recruit after graduation. While stationed in San Diego, Will proposed to Alice, and they were married at the North Island Chapel there. Eventually Will left the Navy to join the U.S. Air Force, and he was based at McDill AFB, where children Verna and Richard were born. Eventually, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and completed his military career of 22 years with them.
That career took him to Morocco and post-war Japan, to Iceland, to lighthouses and strawberry fields in Michigan, to Cape May, N.J. and the U.S.S. Unimac, a sub-chaser keeping tabs on the Russians along the East Coast, to his retirement in his beloved Florida. Settling in Eau Gallie (Melbourne), he finally got to attend college on the GI Bill, earning an elementary education degree from UCF.
Along with Alice, he was an active member of St.Paul’s United Methodist Church, and was a proud Mason. He was well-known among generations of neighborhood children as someone who fixed their bicycles and always kept a supply of bike parts on hand for that purpose. He never met a child or an animal he didn’t care about, and believed in the brotherhood of all mankind.
Will is survived by his children, Verna Brock (Ed), Wakulla Station; Richard Swanson (Kent); Chicago; and Kim Schuab (Dennis), Lake Leelanau. MI;  grandchildren Alan Brock, St. Pete; Anna Simmons (Josh) and  Eden Rodgers (Brian) Crawfordville; Emma Smith (Matt) Grand Ridge, Katie Jo Gill (Nathan), St. Claire, MI; Dean Schaub (Amelia)  Lake Leelanau; Derek Schaub (Olivia), Interlochen, MI;  Dylan Schaub (Jordyn) Interlochen, MI ; and Dustin Schaub, Suttons Bay, MI. He also has nineteen great-grandchildren: Brennan and Avery Simmons; Harrison and Harper Rodgers; Brooke, Lana and Kara Smith; Gracie Gill; Carson, Liam, Izibelle, and Penelope Schaub; Elijah and Easton Schaub; and Navy Schuab.
A memorial service will be held at the National Cemetery in Tallahassee, on Friday, April 28th, at noon, to be followed by a gathering and refreshments at the Piney Z clubhouse.