JERRY PERSON -- A Look Back

As we all know, oil played a big part in Huntington Beach’s early

development. This week we are going to look at Bill Cookerley, who served

as a petroleum inspector.

On Aug. 12, 1895, Cookerley was born in South Milford, Ind. He was one

of five children -- brothers Archie, Burt and Richard, and sister Mary

Ann.

Cookerley graduated from high school in 1914, and on April 7, 1917, at

a time when the United States was mobilizing for World War I, he joined

the Army Air Corps, the forerunner of today’s Air Force. He was sent

overseas to serve in the Meuse-Argonne and Joul sections of France.

When the war was over, Cookerley returned home and came out West to

study engineering at Stanford University in 1921. After a couple years,

he took up law and studied at the University of Washington. He returned

to Indiana to complete his law studies

In 1925, he was admitted to the bar. A year later, he came West again

to California to work for the Standard Oil Co. In 1935, Cookerley took a

job with the state Division of Lands, where he became an inspector of

petroleum production for the Huntington Beach tidelands.

He stayed with the state division for 30 years, until he retired in

1965. He then took up painting landscapes and seascapes. He loved to

read, and it was not uncommon to find him outdoors working in the garden.

Cookerley and his wife, Margaret, and their two children, Frances and

Carl, lived in a home on Main Street. Carl became a teacher at Wilson

Elementary School in Santa Ana, and today, Frances lives in Burbank and

tends to the family’s business.

Cookerley did not forget his World War I buddies. He served as a

commander of the American Legion World War I Barracks and a post

commander at the Huntington Beach American Legion Post No. 133.

He was an active member in the congregation of the First Christian

Church on Main Street for many years. Cookerley passed away on July 22,

1975. He was 79.

Margaret continued living in their Main Street home until her death

when she was 100.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.