Cecil Cooper Obituary

Former Durango resident Cecil E. Cooper Jr. died Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011, at his home in Georgetown, Texas. He was 87.

Mr. Cooper was born to Ruth Edel and Cecil E. Cooper Sr. on June 27, 1923, in St. Louis. He grew up in Kansas City, Kan., where he was active in the Boy Scouts and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. In 1941, he graduated from Wyandotte High School, where he won the state tennis championship.

In 1942, Mr. Cooper enlisted in the Army Air Corps and trained to be a pilot. He flew P-51 Mustangs in the American Beagle Squadron – the 2nd Fighter Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Group – over Italy.

While at Peterson Air Field Hospital in Colorado Springs, Mr. Cooper met Women's Army Corps member Margaret E. "Tommy" Thompson. The couple, who wed in Evergreen, was married from 1944 to 1973.

In 1948, Mr. Cooper graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in accounting. In 1951, the Coopers moved their young family to Durango, and they built a successful firm of certified public accountants, starting as Cecil E. Cooper CPA, later becoming Cooper & Frienmuth and finally Cooper, Stolberg & Willey.

Mr. Cooper was instrumental in the founding of Community Hospital in Durango. He was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the Durango Lion's Club and a lifetime member of the John Birch Society.

In 1974, he married Mary Jo Looney in Durango.

He ran for the 3rd District in Colorado for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1977.

In 2000, the Coopers moved to Sun City in Georgetown, Texas.

Mr. Cooper was active in his neighborhood, hosting Tuesday afternoon pool games, gardening (he was known for his tomatoes), canning pickled okra and salsa, and both watching and feeding birds. An avid fisherman and hunter, Mr. Cooper also was a skilled bridge player.

Mr. Cooper was preceded in death by his wife of 31 years, Mary Jo Cooper.

He is survived by his daughters, Connie Gael Duskin and Cecile Joyner, both of Atascadero, Calif., Victoria Cooper and Deborah Cooper, both of Richmond, Va., and Marcie Claxton of Royse City, Texas; stepchildren, Mary Ann Wallace of Las Cruces, N.M., Jo Ellen Burnett of Dallas, Thomas James of Lubbock, Texas, and Louisa Schurig of Pittsburg, Kan.; brother, Donald Hugh Cooper, of Sun City in Georgetown; former wife, Tommy Cooper, of Atascadero; two nieces and a nephew; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Burial took place Feb. 13, 2011, at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Paralyzed Veterans of America at www.pva.org.