Gary Lee Cooper 1958-2003

COOPER, MERCER, VALENTINE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 5/24/2008 at 22:38:12

Sioux City Journal
10 March 2003

Gary Lee Cooper
WHITING, Iowa -- Gary Lee Cooper, 45, of Whiting passed away Saturday, March 8, 2003, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Whiting Christian Church in Whiting, with the Rev. Rusty Hedger officiating. Burial will be in Harrison Cemetery near Whiting. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service in Onawa.

Gary was born Jan. 26, 1958, in Sioux City to Russell and Alice (Mercer) Cooper. He was raised in Whiting and graduated from Whiting High School in 1976. He then attended Buena Vista College and graduated with a business degree.

He married Lori Lea Valentine on June 7, 1980, in Whiting. He worked as an insurance agent in Atlantic, Iowa, for 16 years and most recently was a partner with Hoffman Agency in Onawa for the past three and a half years.

He was a member of Whiting Christian Church, where he served as an elder. He was an avid sports fan and coached his daughters' athletic teams. He served as the "Voice of the Whiting Warriors" announcing sporting events. Gary especially loved to spend time with his family and friends and enjoyed camping, boating and golfing.

Those left to cherish memories of Gary include his wife, Lori of Whiting; two daughters, Leah and Cara; his mother, Alice Cooper of Sergeant Bluff; his father and stepmother, Russell and Roberta Cooper of Omaha; two sisters, Joann Cooper and Karen Wurth and her fiance, Mike Morgan, all of Sergeant Bluff; three brothers and their wives, Ray and Lori Cooper, David and Becki Cooper and Dale and Renee Cooper, all of Whiting; his mother-in-law, Sally Valentine of Whiting; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Steve and Penny Valentine of Carmel, Ind., Cindy and Mike Zortman of Sioux City, Brenda and Mike Abramovich of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Dave and Jennifer Valentine of Sioux Falls, S.D.; and many nieces, nephews aunts, uncles and special friends.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, John and Evelyn Mercer; his paternal grandparents, Ray and Merle Cooper; an aunt, Phyllis Wendel; a niece, Carmen Cooper; a nephew, Cody Cooper; and his father-in-law, Jack Valentine.