Obituary: Alice Biss Cooper

Alice Biss Cooper

Alice Biss Cooper

Alice Biss Cooper, 92, died on Feb. 5, 2014, at the Fahrney-Keedy nursing facility, Boonsboro, Md. She was the devoted wife of Bennie Cooper, with whom she celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary last year.

Born Jan. 10, 1922, in Grant County, Minn., Mrs. Cooper was the second-youngest in a family of nine children reared on a farm by German immigrants Edward and Emma Biss. She was baptized on April 23 in the year of her birth, and confirmed at age 15 in Zion Lutheran Church of Barrett.

After completing the then-standard 8th-grade education, Mrs. Cooper worked for local farm families during her teenage years. On July 30, 1938, she was married to Bennie Cooper. Following their early years together, when they worked for other farmers, the Coopers owned and operated a Grade A dairy farm near Wendell, Minn., until the late 1970s. In addition to raising her family and tending a large garden and many other things on the farm, Mrs. Cooper worked at a local grocery store and a retirement home in Fergus Falls.

Throughout their years of farming, the Coopers were active members of the Rock Prairie Lutheran Church, where she served as a Sunday School Teacher and leader in women's circles and Ladies Aid. She enjoyed reading, gardening, family gatherings, reunions and picnics with the large Biss/Cooper extended families. When the Coopers retired to Arizona, they became charter members of Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Prescott Valley. In their retirement years, the Coopers enjoyed traveling throughout the United States and internationally.

Alice and Bennie Cooper were the parents of three children, Bernice Cooper Anderson (deceased), David Cooper of Winchester, Va. (retired data processing and educational specialist), and Michael Cooper-White of Gettysburg, Pa. (Lutheran pastor currently serving as president of Gettysburg Seminary).

In addition to Bennie and her two sons and their wives, Diane Cooper and Pamela Cooper-White, Mrs. Cooper is survived by her youngest sister Helen Oyloe; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial service celebrating the life of Alice Cooper was held at the Robinwood Retirement Village in Hagerstown, Md., where she lived with her husband since 2010. Interment will be in Grant County, Minn., at a later date.

Information provided by survivors.


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