Frances Tex Cooper Nevenheim

Frances Tex Cooper Nevenheim died March 24, 2005, in Prescott.

She was one of six children of Jake and Maude Cooper. Tex was a rancher and ran herds from east Texas to northern New Mexico. Tex was born on April 1, 1909, in Chico, Texas. She loved the outdoors and had a sense of adventure, which eventually led her to Alaska in 1943.

Tex attended Texas Tech, West Texas State University and received her BA degree from Colorado State Teachers College at Greeley, Colo. She was an excellent kindergarten and first grade teacher and loved children. Tex was adventurous and a great lover of the outdoors. She traveled to Alaska Territory in 1941 on a blacked-out Navy ship due to the lack of roads or airways. She started teaching in Juneau and later Ketchikan, Fairbanks and Anchorage.

In 1943, Tex married Carl Nevenheim, who was employed by the Great Northern Commercial Company. They had no children. Carl died in 1973. Tex lived in Anchorage until coming to Prescott to retire in 1966.

Her hobby was gardening, which won her the Garden of the Year title in Anchorage. Tex was a devoted Catholic and member of the Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage. She has been a generous benefactor to a number of Catholic organizations.

Tex will be laid to rest in Anchorage next to her husband.

Arizona Ruffner Wakelin Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.

(Information provided by survivors.)


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