Kenneth Eugene Cooper's Obituary
Kenneth Eugene “Gene” Cooper was born on February 16, 1934 on his parent’s farm in Craig County, Ok. He was the only child of Kenneth Earl Cooper and Mildred Alice Rhoads. His first job was working on the farm. After graduating from Welch High School, Gene married Jonnie Henson. They had two sons, Rick and Gregg Cooper . As their sons grew up, the family had an adventurous and busy life together. They traveled with Gene’s work across Missouri, Kansas, Washington, and California and then settled in Oklahoma.Gene was devoted to his career. But, his first love was music. As a boy, he played his fiddle on a live radio program. Later, an accomplished musician and also sometimes singer, he played country swing and traditional country music in venues across several states. Miami, Ok and the Tulsa Cain’s Ballroom were some of his favorites.Gene started his aviation career as a sheet metal fabricator for Continental Can. He worked as a Leadman at Lockheed Martin, McDonald Douglas, and Rockwell. He also worked at American Airlines and eventually retired from Boeing with 35 years of service. His work was in government high security applications. That work involved aircraft, including Lockheed Martin’s A12 and also spacecraft, including Apollo 11. Later in his life, Gene married Lula Jean Gross. Lula Jean loved gardens, family, neighbors and they shared all of that. They enjoyed life together until Lula Jean passed away in 2011.Toward the end of his life, Gene married Miranda Lam. He appreciated her love and companionship and enjoyed her friends and family. Miranda enriched his life as they traveled, and were busy doing and seeing things together. Gene was a very intelligent and talented man. And, he was determined. He said, last December, “You have to tell yourself you can do anything and don’t give up. I can still work on things and do what I need to do.” He was also tender hearted, kind, caring and generous. He was a member at Victory Church. He was a believer of Jesus Christ and studied his Bible daily. Gene left this earth on March 2nd, 2018. He is in the care of his Lord. We will miss him but we will see him again.Visitation will be 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Wednesday, March 7th, Floral Haven Funeral Home.Funeral service will be 12:30 PM, Thursday, March 8th, Floral Haven Funeral Home.
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