Reita F. Cooley, age 72, died June 14 in Poulsbo after a long fight with cancer. She was born April 28, 1933 in Ore City, Texas, to Deo Hudgins and Pauline (Wells) Hudgins.

Cooley graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle in 1951 and attended the University of Washington and Seattle University.

She married William Cooley on June 19, 1953, in Seattle.

For more than 40 years, she and her husband were residents of Bainbridge Island, where they operated Computer Sales of Bainbridge until her health seriously failed in June 2004. Previous to that job, she worked at Bainbridge Gardens for Junkoh Harui and as office manager at Helpline House.

She was fond of gardening, painting, music and dance.

Cooley belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star, Social Order of Beaucaent and Daughters of the Nile.

She was a member of St. Olaf’s Catholic Church in Poulsbo and St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island for more than 30 years.

She is survived by her husband, William Cooley, of Poulsbo; son, James Cooley, of Redmond; daughter, Leslie Donat, of Black Diamond, Wash.; and grandson, Jordan.

A memorial mass will be celebrated for close family at St. Olaf’s Catholic Church in Poulsbo, with interment at Kane Cemetery on Bainbridge Island. Memorial donations can be made to Fred Hutchinson Research Center, P.O. Box 19024, mailstop LY-120, Seattle, WA 98109-1024.

Funeral arrangements are by the Stone Chapel in Poulsbo.