Marie Greene Cooley Anderson

The sweetest spirit this side of Heaven took flight with the angels to be with her Jesus on April 5, 2017 after a thirteen year journey with Alzheimer's disease.  The healing that had been delayed has finally arrived.

A celebration of the life of Marie Greene Cooley Anderson, 87, of DeRidder, Louisiana, will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at Grace Church, DeRidder, Louisiana.  Rev. George Lee Glass and Rev. C. E. Cooley, Jr. will officiate with burial to follow in Beauregard Cemetery.  Family and friends are invited for visitation and reminiscing on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until service time at 3:00 p.m. at Grace Church.  The main reason the celebration will occur this Saturday, and not sooner, is that Marie would have wanted time for this to appear in the paper before her funeral!

Marie was born the third child of Charles E. Cooley, Sr. and Lettie Marillia Greene Cooley on July 10, 1929 in New Caney, Texas.  Her families were pioneers of Beauregard Parish and she lived her entire life in DeRidder.  She grew up through the difficult times of the Great Depression and World War II but was surrounded by a home and community filled with love and faith and family.  She graduated from DeRidder High School in 1946.  After attending Vincent Business College, she began working for United Gas Company (now CenterPoint Energy) in December 1946 and worked there until 1968 when her youngest son was born.

On June 18, 1949 she married the love of her life, Perry W. Anderson, Jr., and they enjoyed 48 years of marriage and life together until his death on February 22, 1998. On August 6, 1959 her first son, Perry W. Anderson, III, was born.  "Skipper" was adored by his mother.  Skip's life was cut short on July 13, 2015 after a five year struggle with a traumatic brain injury suffered in a motor vehicle accident.  If there was ever a blessing in the ravages of Alzheimer's, it is that his mother never knew of the heartaches and pain of those struggles. On July 13, 1968 her second son, Charles Kerry Anderson, was born.  She got the daughter she always wanted when her "third" child, Erika Diane Fritzenschaft, married her son on October 5, 1991.  Marie refused the moniker "daughter-in-law" and accepted her fully as her devoted daughter.

She was the best mother any child could have ever wished for.  She was the epitome of a wife.  She was not only Perry's devoted spouse; but his business partner in rodeos, grocery stores, motels, real estate, and every other venture he led them in.  She was his teacher's aide and assistant.  She was his plumbing and carpentry helper.  She was his apprentice; his right-hand man; best girl Friday; chief cook and bottle washer; tea glass filler; spank bread maker; clothes washer and coverall ironer; screwdriver and flashlight fetcher; and consummate caregiver.  Long before there was Dr. Google to seek medical advice from, Dr. Marie was in practice.  Her life was devoted to the care of others: her father, her aunts and uncles and cousins, her mother-in-law, her mother, her children, and her husband; as well as every other family member or friend with which she was acquainted.  She was a servant and she bore that role readily and happily and with a smile and a sweet spirit.

Marie is survived and will be greatly missed by her son and daughter, Kerry and Erika Anderson, of DeRidder, Louisiana.  She also leaves her brother, Rev. C. E. Cooley, Jr., and his wife, Joy Settles Cooley, of DeRidder, Louisiana.  She was preceded in death by her parents; her oldest son; and her older siblings, Benjamin James (B. J.) Cooley, Sr. and Donna Laura Cooley Russ, both of Houston, Texas.  Left to cherish her memory are a host of nephews and nieces and numerous family and friends.

The family wishes to acknowledge Linda Young and Heart of Hospice as well as all of her hospice caregivers for their excellent care and concern and ministry to Marie and to the family.  Kerry and Erika are indebted to the sitters who were so faithful in their love and kindness toward Marie and to them during this journey and long goodbye.  Words cannot convey the gratitude felt to Sheila Sisco, Richonda Noble, and Judy George, as well as others too numerous to mention over the years.  But especially Jenny Hopkins, Cala Crocker, Sylvia Howard, and most of all, Peggy Whittington, who treated "Granny" like their own family, and whose care and love were priceless and beyond compare.

Marie made her home a haven for all.  She will be missed every day, but never forgotten, as her legacy of love and compassion is instilled in all who knew her.  Those feet which had not been on the floor in four years are now walking streets of gold!