Miriam Madeline Sooley

Miriam Madeline Sooley, 86, of Waleska, passed away September 14, 2012. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 18, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Marietta, with Father John Walsh officiating. Miriam was born in Sunapee, New Hampshire, to farming parents, as Miriam Madeline Wiggins. As she grew up, she helped with the work. The products they produced were potatoes and maple syrup. However, to provide for their subsistence they raised chickens, dairy cows and pigs. These animals required hay. Miriam as a teen-ager helped her father with much of the farm work, which included haying. Gardening, especially raising vegetables (tomatoes, squash, corn, etc.) became a lifetime passion. In the winter, however, she had time for skiing on the local slopes, and skating on Lake Sunapee. Miriam attended the public schools and graduated from Sunapee High School in 1945 as Valedictorian. She studied Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and graduated second in her class in 1947. As a Registered Nurse (R.N.), she accepted a position as Night Supervisor at Massachusetts General Hospital. On New Years Eve, 1948, she had a blind a date with Richard Sooley, a Boston University student and they soon fell in love. They were married on July 15, 1950, and remained so for over sixty-two years. He was a reservist and during the Korean War he was recalled into the Air Force where he served as a crew member on a B-36 bomber. The first of four children was born in June of 1951. Then she joined Richard who was stationed at Carswell AFB in Texas. After his discharge they moved back to Massachusetts, and she worked in local hospitals in Milford and Haverhill, Massachusetts. In 1964, she and Richard moved St. Charles, Missouri. She became the County Nurse for St. Charles County. Of all the positions she held this was the most rewarding. The county officials allowed her a great deal of freedom in performing her duties. She devoted herself tirelessly, helping the indigent and elderly. She served the county schools, helping to resolve their health problems and ran a well-baby clinic. Still, out of her own resources, on holidays such as Thanksgiving, and Christmas, she would cook special dinners and she and her husband would deliver them to indigent old people. In 1972, her husband moved to the Kansas City area. She, of course, went with him. She accepted a position as inspector of Nursing Homes for the western half of Missouri. She remained an employee of the State of Missouri until she retired in 199I. While she was in the Kansas City area her husband was stationed in Saudi Arabia and she visited him there. She also traveled with him throughout the United Kingdom, Southern Europe, Japan and the Caribbean. After retiring she did some private duty nursing in Florida. Finally she moved to Georgia to be near her children. Miriam is survived by her husband, Richard R. Sooley, Waleska; 3 daughters, Barbara Maehara & husband, Shigejil, Yacolt, WA, Victoria Regina, Albuquerque, NM, and Mary Ellen Mateyka & husband, Don, Powder Springs; 1 son, John Sooley & wife, Heather, Blue Springs, MO; 7 grandchildren, Leslie Hillen, James O’Brien, Melissa, Christopher, and Thomas Maehara, Richard R. Sooley, II, and Davie Sooley; 2 great-grandchildren, Nolan O’Brien and Skyla Copeland. Flowers are welcome or you may make a contribution in memory of Miriam to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or donors@stjude.org. The family will receive friends Monday, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., at the funeral home. Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home & Crematory, Marietta, is in charge of arrangements. www.mayeswarddobbins.com

Miriam Madeline Sooley

February 22, 1926 - September 14, 2012