MARGARET SUE ANDERSON COOPER

 

A LIFE WELL LIVED! Margaret Sue Anderson Cooper was born July 19, 1924 in Dallas and passed away peacefully in Dallas, October 27, 2016. Sue was the first daughter born to Leonard R. and Naomi P. Anderson of Venus and later Wills Point, Texas. It’s hard to sum up 92 years into several paragraphs, but for a former English Teacher, we will give it a try and hope that we don’t have any grammatical errors since Sue is no longer able to proof read our work.

Sue grew up as a child of the depression era and worked hard all her life. After graduating from Wills Point High School, Sue moved to Dallas to attend Business School. When WWII came, Sue went to work for two years as a secretary for an Army Colonel stationed in Dallas. The Colonel encouraged her to attend college and after saving enough money for her first year’s tuition, she chose to study at Baylor University.

During her time at Baylor, she worked for Dr. A. J. Armstrong, the head of the English Department. Sue graduated from Baylor University in the spring of 1947 receiving her BA in English. While at Baylor she met Robert (Bob or Coop) Leonard Cooper, Jr. Their first date was Halloween 1946, seventy years ago. And quite befitting, their first reunion in heaven is just days shy of Halloween 2016. The two Baylor graduates married on March 14, 1948 in Wills Point. They lived in Dallas for a few years until a business transfer moved the young family to Houston, Texas.

In 1960, Coop’s career took them to Los Angeles, California and then Darien, Connecticut. Fortunately, another transfer moved the family back home to Texas and to Houston.

Sue modeled part-time for a large department store and that appreciation for fashion stayed with her for life. She truly was a beautiful woman, inside and out. Sue would later go on to work as the Executive Secretary to the President of Rice University and then as an English teacher at Memorial High School.

Sue and Coop were early members of Tallowood Baptist Church of Houston and taught several bible study groups for young adults over the years. After almost two decades, Sue and Coop made their way back to North Texas, living in Ft. Worth and eventually moving back to Dallas. It’s difficult to say where they had the most friends, Houston, Ft. Worth or Dallas, but they never lacked for friends wherever they went.

Both Sue and Coop had boundless energy and thrived when they were working with young adults. They dedicated more than thirty years working each summer with groups of all ages at the Glorieta Baptist Conference Center in New Mexico. Our family agrees that Glorieta was where they were the happiest.

When summer was over and the cold winters of New Mexico started to roll in, Sue and Coop would come back to their home in Dallas where they were members of Park Cities Baptist Church. Fortunately for us, they took part in PCBC’s “Video History Project”. The goal of the project was to allow members to record their life stories. On April 5, 2007 they recorded Sue and Coop. In this video, Sue was asked how she would like to be remembered. She said, “I’d like to be remembered as honest, good and for my love of the Lord.” A Life Well Lived – indeed.

Sue was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, Robert Leonard Cooper, Jr. and granddaughter Ashley Renee Black Krajca. Sue is survived by her son, Robert L. Cooper, III and his wife Jean-Ann of Dallas, Texas, her daughter Claire Cooper Black and her husband Clyde of Lovelady, Texas. She leaves behind grandchildren Kim and Jeff Mauser, Ryan and Katie Cooper, Drew Cooper and five great grandchildren, Nicole, Luke and Mark Mauser; Caroline and Natalie Cooper. Also surviving is Sue’s sister Nancy Thurmond of Ft. Worth, Texas, plus many nieces and nephews, and Sue’s friend and caregiver for the past several years, Alice Joanah.

If there are any grammatical or factual errors Mom, please forgive us. ~ Your loving Family.

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