Iowan Dies While Diving in Hawaii

William (Will or Bill) Tyler Cooey, 57, of Delhi, died Tuesday Oct. 7th, 2008, in the Straub Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, following a wave surge accident.

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Iowan Dies While Diving in Hawaii

By Becky Ogann

CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) - A Dubuque man has died while diving in Hawaii.

The family of William Cooey says the 57-year-old man was preparing to go scuba diving on Oct. 5 when a wave surge caught him by surprise. He died from his injuries two days later at a hospital in Honolulu.

Cooey and his wife, Barb, were visiting his son Ryan, who is stationed at a Marine Corps base in Hawaii.

The father of five taught at Maquoketa High School and was a Boy Scout leader for nearly 30 years.

His mother, Marcheta Cooey, says her son will get his wish to be buried in his Scout uniform.

A visitation is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Delhi United Methodist Church with a funeral service scheduled at 11 a.m.
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Tuesday, Oct 14 at 7:30 AM td2150 wrote ...

I have known Bill for about 15 years. He is an excellent swimmer. According to his wife and son who were with him, he was hit by an unexpected large wave while putting on scuba gear. It slammed him into the concrete steps he was sitting on at the edge of the water, pulled him into the ocean and did it again. At first he felt fine but a few minutes later he lost consciousness in the water and went under. RIP Bill. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle. You will be missed.

Tuesday, Oct 14 at 12:38 AM Too bad wrote ...

It seems like God takes the good ones early. :( My thoughts and prayers go out to Bill's family.

Monday, Oct 13 at 9:48 PM Nate wrote ...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. Bill is my wifes uncle and all I know is he was one of the best swimmers i know. Bill grew up on Lake Delhi, and loved the water, from water sking to scuba diving, and swimming.

Monday, Oct 13 at 8:19 PM Jam Papa wrote ...

Diving should be banned.

Monday, Oct 13 at 7:36 PM DriftyAlison0 wrote ...

The family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers.

Monday, Oct 13 at 3:40 PM I agree... wrote ...

.....I guess it's obvious that we all live in Iowa and many miles from an ocean.

Monday, Oct 13 at 1:36 PM RE: 12:43 PM Anonymous wrote ...

I know what you mean! It is incredibly difficult to find any information on "wave surge"--one of the rare instances, in fact, that Google has ever failed me. I do hate that a little blurb couldn't be provided in the news article--i.e. "A wave surge is a X resulting from Y" Anyhow, here's what I could find. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_surge I'm pretty sure that it is the same thing, though people like to throw arcane terms around these days to leave others frustrated and guessing...

Monday, Oct 13 at 12:43 PM Anonymous wrote ...

Can somebody explain what a wave surge is?

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