John Cooper, Jr. died Aug. 15, 2009, at his home in Shelbyville, Ind., surrounded by his family. He was 90.
Funeral services were held Aug. 18.
John Bailey (Jack) Cooper, Jr. was born June 30, 1919, on the family farm near Kimball to Bailey and Lyda (Paddock) Cooper, the second of 11 children. He attended a one-room country grade school and Kimball High School, graduating in 1936 at the age of 16. When he turned 17, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corp. In 1940, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving in the North Atlantic for five years during World War II. He married Ann Choat in 1941, and three children were born of this union. Discharged from the Navy, he settled in Indianapolis, where he worked for the Ford Motor Company for more than 30 years. In 1961, his wife Ann died.
In 1962, he married Thelma Wynalda, a marriage that lasted 47 years.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Frederic, Woodrow, and Robert; and sisters Elizabeth, Peggy, Rachel Ann, and Nancy Lee.
Jack is survived by his wife Thelma; son John Bailey (Jack) III; daughters Barbara Cooper and Leslie (and Rick) Reel; eight grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren; brothers Bill Cooper, Sr., of Kimball, and Dave Cooper of Evans, Wash.