Robert B. Cooney

Old Lyme, CT …. Robert Bossert Cooney, known to everyone as Boo, died peacefully in his sleep on June 23, 2010 at the Hospice unit of Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. He was 94 years old and died after a brief illness.

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1915, Mr. Cooney graduated from Philips Exeter and from Yale College in 1939. When war broke out, he volunteered for the Naval Reserve and served three years aboard the Battleship Alabama in the Pacific, rising to the rank of Lieutenant.

In 1942, he married Isabel Xanders of Baltimore. They moved to Old Lyme, CT in the early 1950s and lived there until Mrs. Cooney’s death in 2007, except for a brief time in neighboring Essex. After his wife’s death, he moved back to Essex to an apartment in Essex Meadows.

When he moved to Old Lyme, Mr. Cooney joined Vocaline, an electronics firm owned by his brothers in Old Saybrook, CT. Several years later, he switched careers and became a stockbroker. He worked for several brokerage houses over the years and finally retired from RBC Dan Rauscher when he was almost 92 years old.

Mr. Cooney was a spectacular amateur golfer, playing the sport for over 70 years. In 1973, he was elected to the U.S. Seniors Golf Association and participated in tournaments around the country. He still holds the course record at his home course, the Old Lyme Country Club, a record that has stood for over 40 years. He also served as President of this Club. For over 25 years, he was Chairman of the Investment Committee of the MacCurdy Salisbury Educational Foundation, an educational fund to provide funds to college-bound students from Lyme and Old Lyme.

Mr. Cooney is survived by his daughter, Susan C. Jewett, of Lyme, CT and Vero Beach, FL, as well as by two grandsons, Carter S. Evans, Jr. of New York City and Robert B. Evans of Seattle, and by three great grandchildren: Carter S. Evans III, Wesley R. Evans and Sophie Isabel Evans.

Burial will be private in Baltimore. Fulton-Theroux of Old Lyme is handling the funeral arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Middlesex Hospital Hospice & Palliative Care Unit, 28 Crescent Street, Middletown, CT 06457 or to the MacCurdy Salisbury Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 474, Old Lyme, CT 06371.

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For further information, please contact Susan C. Jewett at 860-434-7787 or at [email protected] .