By Alisha Hipwell
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
Edward C. Cooper couldn’t sit still, and that turned out to be a boon to his hometown of Shaler and to the surrounding communities.
During a life devoted to volunteerism, Mr. Cooper fought dozens of fires for the Elfinwild Volunteer Fire Department, cooked pounds of spaghetti for Lions Club dinners and wheeled countless patients through the maze of halls at UPMC Passavant.
“Community meant a lot to him, so he always tried to put back into that,” said his son, Jim Cooper, of Mascoutah, Ill.
The elder Mr. Cooper died June 24 of lung cancer at the age of 76.
He was a life member and past president of the Elfinwild Volunteer Fire Department. In the early ‘70s, he was instrumental in forming the department’s ambulance service and became one of the first certified paramedics in the state, his son said.
Even after he retired from firefighting, Mr. Cooper remained active on the department’s executive board until his death.
He also was a past president of the Elfinwild Lions Club, where he often could be found cooking spaghetti for club dinners.
Jim Cooper said he, his brother and his sister learned to value community involvement because of their father’s example. He said some of his fondest childhood memories were of accompanying his father to community activities, such as fire department meetings.
“When I got to go with him, that was a big treat,” he said.
Mr. Cooper was raised in Rosslyn Farms, Crafton and Robinson and moved to Shaler with his family in the early ‘40s. He attended Waynesburg College but left to work in the industrial electronics business. Over the years, he worked for Cameradio, Pioneer and Hamilton Avnet.
For many years, he served in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
After his retirement in the late ‘80s, Mr. Cooper began volunteering as a patient escort at UPMC Passavant in McCandless one to two days a week.
“He absolutely loved that,” his son said.
Mr. Cooper and his wife were members of Glenshaw Presbyterian Church, where he had been an elder, trustee, deacon and handbell choir member. For many years, he also made audio recordings of services for members who couldn’t make it to church.
In addition to his son, Mr. Cooper is survived by his wife, Lois Klingenberg Cooper; another son, Gary Lee Cooper, of Hamlin, N.Y.; a daughter, Debra Cooper, of West View; two brothers, Lawrence James Cooper, of White Oak, and Kenneth Dean Cooper, of China; and five grandchildren.
A funeral was held last Thursday in Glenshaw Presbyterian Church. Burial was in Mount Royal Cemetery in Shaler.