Arbedella Handley Cooksey, 78, of Tifton passed away Friday, March 13, 2015, at her residence. Her funeral service will be held at 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 15, 2015, in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton’s First Baptist Church with Dr. Wayne Roe officiating. Mrs. Cooksey will be laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery. The family will receive friends Sunday, March 15, 2015, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Bradley Floyd, Scott Revell, Jad Johnson, Ernie Parsons, Richard Payne and Mike Beach will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Mrs. Cooksey’s nephews and James Perry, Arthur Moore, Kay Brownlee, Linda Warren, Patsy Hathorn and the employees of Cooksey Steel Company.
Mrs. Cooksey was born December 27, 1936 in Irwin County, daughter of James Oscar Handley and Louise Melvin Handley Surratt, both deceased. She was also preceded in death by her husband, James Alvin “Bo” Cooksey, who died in 1993. She was co-owner of Cooksey Steel Company and member of Tifton’s First Baptist Church.
Mrs. Cooksey is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Carol Cooksey of Tifton; her daughter, Paige Cooksey McSwain of Hahira; two brothers, Jim Handley of Lilburn and Damon Handley of Steamboat Springs, Colorado; two sisters, Betty Johnson of Lake Blackshear and JoAnn Owen of Fitzgerald; and three grandchildren, Lauren Cooksey, Taylor Cooksey and Hunter McSwain.
Flowers will be accepted or memorial gifts may be made to the American Heart Association, Tift County Unit, P. O. Box 7514, Tifton, GA 31793; or the American Cancer Society, 3338-L Country Club Road, PMB 305, Valdosta, GA 31605.