Beverly Jean Cooney

Beverly Jean Cooney age 85 of Denver, Colorado passed this mortal shell December 18, 2016 at home from pancreatic cancer. She will be sorely missed by her family. She was born on a Wednesday March 11, 1931 at 5:09 pm in Deacaness Hospital in Spokane, Washington to Hazel L McLellen and Richard A. Cisna. Her father Richard A. Cisna was a structural engineer who traveled overseas and notably worked on the water in Persia (Iran) at the time of the shah, Iran Raza Pahlavi. He also was an ambassador for U.S. government to the Middle East. Her mother Hazel L. McLellen came from a highland Scottish family from the Isle of Mann who immigrated from Ontario, Canada. Her grandparents Angus A. McLellen and Cristine McKay beguiled Beverly with stories of the Black Watch. Her grandfather was not allowed to play the bagpipes in the house. Beverly was so unlike her mother Hazel, she was tall, gawky and very ""Tom boyish"". Hazel was a dainty social mannered charmer with many suitors pursuing her. One potential suitor was Bing Crosby who Beverly's grandfather chased off their porch with a shotgun. Hazel was smitten with a young Navy man by the name of Richard A. Cisna. How they met is unclear but soon they married on March 19th 1924 and soon a beautiful baby girl name Beverly Jean Cooney. Richard soon left and they divorced December 4, 1934. Beverly and her mother stayed with her grandparents. Later Hazel met Frank J. Williamson and they married July 29th 1942. Frank was a Shriner and great outdoorsman who became an important influence to Beverly. She became very athletic and a striking tall beauty and caught the eye of a young Air Force officer named James E. Ahl. Eventually they married and moved to Louisiana and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at the Air Force hospital named Cristine Victoria Ahl born on June 22, 1952. When James retired from the Air Force, they moved to California. James went to engineering school while his wife worked as a ""taxi dancer"" and did extras in movies. Beverly was a Las Vegas show girl for the Great Calypso King Harry Belafonte. While working, and taking care of her little baby girl she gave birth to a bouncing baby boy Dana J. Ahl. After James finished school, they packed up babies and all in a trailer to move to Colorado. They found a 2 1/2 acre plot and proceeded to build their home. The address was Roxborough Park Rd. of Douglas County now close to where Chatfield Dam is located. Beverly and James built the home from the ground up. James got a job as a special engineer at Martin Marietta while she raised her children. Then June 13, 1959 another sweet baby boy named Robert A. Ahl. On stormy days and nights when the lights were out she would read classics like Tarzan and Swift Family Robinson. She taught her children board and card games. In late 1960's Beverly attended cosmetology school to work in the trade. Shortly James and Beverly divorced. On her daughter's 16th birthday, Beverly packed up her entire family and moved into a chalet on Vine St near Cherry Creek Shopping center. Beverly worked at the May D&F in the salon and later as a manager at Western Supply on Broadway Blvd. She worked long hours and came home very tired. In 1970 she met Gerald T. Cooney, a handsome blue-eyed Irishman. Even though recently separated from his wife, he established a long-lasting relationship with Beverly. Beverly and Gerald married November 24th 1971. She gained a new family from his eight children, Maura Modesta, Mark Joseph, Kevin Marion, Michaela Mary, Peter Thomas, Dara Anne, Barbara Francis and Rex Raymond. Beverly was just as caring for Gerald's children as he was for hers. Gerald had an insurance brokerage agency that he started, he had his wife work with him. She learned to create programs on the computer while he was the salesman. Together, they were a great success. They were together 24/7 and enjoyed every minute of it. One year when Gerald and Beverly went to Washington state and found that her ""birth-father"" Richard's mother was descended of the Nez Perce. Gerald and Beverly not only worked together but played together. They loved to travel and travel they did. Road trips to cruises to trips to foreign countries. They also collected paintings and sculptures. Beverly lost her husband in 2012 and remodeled her new home where she resided in for barely over a year before she passed. Beverly was passionate reader, and collected up-scale dolls as well as sold them. Although she has passed, she is at peace and will reside next to her loving husband at Fort Logan in January 2017. Please share your memories of Beverly and condolences with her family in the Guestbook via the link below.