John H. Cooper Jr., better known as “Coop,” is the son of the late John and Dorothy Cooper. John woke up one morning and saw that the body he had lived in since March 18, 1944, needed repairs. He started to think about how good God had been to him during his 80 years.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, graduated from John Adams High School and attended Tri-C Community College. He accepted Christ at an early age at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church under the late Rev. Luther F. Hill. John was a man of faith, character and progressive ideas and loved by many for the magnitude of his spirit. John was an outspoken Christian for 70 years. His motto was to help those who needed positive role models outside of the church especially when it came to civil rights concerns and health issues. John was selected to participate in a Cleveland, Ohio program sponsored by sports legends Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Muhammad Ali among other personalities, to boycott appearances in Cleveland, Ohio unless they offered training to Black people in the trades.

John was an avid reader and kept himself knowledgeable with up-to-date technology. He loved several types of music, especially gospel and romance. He loved grilling outdoors, traveling, and buying clothes.

John graduated as a Pipefitter’s Local120. He (also known as “Coop”) became the first black General Forman for the Perry Nuclear Plant. He helped woman to achieve their goals in the trade and other industries. He was honored at the Hilton Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio for being a 50-year union member in good standing and an outstanding tradesman. He retired as a Pipefitter’s Local120 in 2004.

John encouraged his Goddaughter LaTrice Bennett to follow her dreams. She has been employed for 25 years with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District where she has received honors as the only blind teacher assistant/support staff member with a guide dog in instructing students with disabilities.

John was kind to those in trouble, sympathetic to those in need and firm with those who were wayward. He is what we might call “a man of great courage and teller of many jokes.”

He leaves to mourn his son John Cooper III (Ashley), granddaughter Gloria, his loving and devoted sister and caretaker, Delores Cooper-Anthony, his stepson Joseph Preston III (Munirah), step grandson Joseph Preston IV, step granddaughter Jazmine Preston, step great grandson Breylen, special friends Yolanda Marshall, Sophronia Hariston and longtime private nurse, Lisa Penn, and a host of other relatives and friends.

If he were here today, he would say: “I have fought the good fight, I have run the course.  I have kept the faith, Henceforth, waiting for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at the day and not to me only, but unto all of them also that love his appearing.”    2Timothy 4:7-8

Humbly Submitted His Loving Family.