Shreveport, LA – A private family service will be held for William G. “Cooky” Abney, 78, at Centuries Memorial Funeral Home, with Rev. Dr. Chris Currie officiating.
Cooky was a loving and much loved husband, brother, father, uncle, father-in-law and grandfather. He passed away Friday, May 1, 2020. He was born March 17, 1942 in Fort Worth, Texas to Elmer and Bevelene Abney (Hemperley). He was raised with much love by his step-father Asa D. Hemperley, Jr.
Cooky has three siblings, Glenda Siepman, Scott Hemperley, and Susan Mulkey. He graduated from Fair Park High School in 1960 and married his sweetheart, Ann Bartholomew on June 20, 1964. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1963-1967 and was stationed in Germany, France, and Mountain Home, Idaho, as an aircraft electronics technician. After his service in the Air Force, Cooky spent 30 years at South Central Bell where he worked as a phone repair technician until his retirement in 1997.
A study in contrasts, after years of working in the elements Cooky had skin the color and consistency of leather. Paired with piercing blue eyes, he cut an imposing figure, leading some of his son’s friends to refer to him to him as “the mayor of Mantown”. Yet he was a truly gentle man who loved children and animals, rescuing many strays to the occasional exasperation of his wife. While he didn’t attend college, he was a voracious reader, equally at home quoting Shakespeare, the odd bit of poetry, or the Chilton’s Auto Repair Manual. He was a feared Trivial Pursuit opponent, and for many years did the daily crossword puzzle in pen.
Cooky was a genuinely skilled craftsman, and that rarest of things-an honest mechanic. His garage became a clubhouse for the grandchildren that he adored, and that love was measured by the hours they spent with him out there, learning to eat popsicles and MoonPies (which he inexplicably considered a delicacy), and just maybe a little bit about proper tool use.
He was preceded in death by his mother Bevelene Hemperley and his step-father Asa Hemperley. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 56 years, Ann and their three children, Jeff Abney (wife Susan), Melissa Couture (husband Marty), and Steven Abney (wife Elizabeth). He and Ann have seven grandchildren, Cooper Abney, Sarah Payne, Whit Abney, Spencer Payne, Henry Abney, Charlotte Abney, and August Abney. Our family is also grateful for the love and support of special neighbors Melissa and Eddie Dinkins.
His grandchildren will serve as honorary pallbearers. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Affiliate Clinic at Feist-Weiller Cancer Center-Shreveport.
