Clifford Ewing Cooley

Clifford Ewing Cooley, 87, passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Tyler, Texas. He made his life’s work helping individuals and families through difficult times.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

Ewing was born on April 28, 1935, in McKinney, Texas, to Waldron and Velma Snider Cooley. After graduation from Denton High School, he earned BA, MS, and EdD degrees from North Texas State University in the fields of psychology, social work, and education. He also received his MRE from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in college he met his wife, Jeannine, through the Baptist Student Union. They raised three daughters together as he moved from social work to academia to counseling. Cooley was instrumental in moving Decatur Baptist College to Dallas and planning the new campus. He worked at Dallas Baptist College from 1968-1975, serving as dean of students, professor of psychology, and head of the library learning center. He then established a private counseling business and never completely retired from this vocational calling. One of his ventures, Fourth Street Project, provided therapeutic day care for kids that could not be in typical child care centers.

Among friends, Cooley was respected for caring for his wife, who lived with disabilities for many years. He was honored for over 50 years of Bible Study leadership, primarily teaching the Etc. class at First Baptist Arlington. He enjoyed spending time outdoors with family in East Texas.

Dr. Cooley is survived by his daughters Robbyn Steele and husband Gary, Kathy Cooley, and Kristy Brown and husband Phil; grandchildren Taylor Steele and wife Merrick, Grady Steele and wife Kaitlyn, Sara Steele, Kerry Looper and husband Eddie, Jenna Carruth and husband Garret, Tim Brown and wife Gabriella, and Amy Brown; and great-grandchildren Caleb, Andrew, Beckett, Brazos, Jackson, Eliza, Aureana, and Damian.

For those wishing to honor the memory of Dr. Cooley, the family suggests a gift to the Samaritan Fund at First Baptist Church Arlington or the LinkED Sliding Scale Fund. Follow the prompts at www.link-ed.org, making a notation for sliding scale or mail to LinkED, 101 Summit, Suite 612, Fort Worth, Texas 76102.