Paul Cooper
- Published: August 28, 2025
Paul R. Cooper died peacefully on July 6, 2025, at the age of 102 years. He lived most of his long life in the village of Yellow Springs.
He was born April 2, 1923, and grew up in Indianapolis with his parents, Paul and Helen Cooper, and his sister, Dorothy. Unable to serve in active duty during WWII, he contributed to the war effort by working for Allison Engines in their drafting department. He then chose to attend Antioch College after hearing about its progressive, open-minded approach. This was a huge departure from the way he was raised, an early example of his enthusiasm for new ideas. He met many friends there, including his roommate, who was from India, and his future best man, both of whom kept in touch for the rest of Paul’s life.
After graduating, he began a career with Odiorne Industrial Advertising (OIA), where he worked in design, print production management, and writing. He stayed until he retired at age 62.
While at Antioch in the late 1940s, Paul met Mary Buck. They married, and a few short years later built a house on the edge of town on Fairfield Pike, where they raised their daughters Scotte and Wendy. Several friends built houses and started families around the same time, creating an idyllic small-town environment, where the neighborhood children played outdoors in their adjoining back yards, celebrated many holidays as a large family group, and explored the field and stream behind their houses before that area was developed. After the children were raised, Mary and Paul went their separate ways, but remained friends for many years.
Paul loved theater, and often reminisced about the wonderful opportunity he had in the 1950s to help with the “Shakespeare Under the Stars” Festival, staged with Antioch Hall as a backdrop and directed by Antioch student and later faculty member Arthur Lithgow. Paul’s children have wonderful memories of sitting there on warm summer nights watching amazing theater productions.
In 1976 Paul married Barbara Brookshire. She and her three children, Chris, Rachel and Tory, brought a whole new family into his life. They too remained friends for many years both in and out of marriage.
Deeply curious, Paul’s interests were many and varied, including journalism, art, astronomy, boat-building, motorcycles, classic automobiles, politics, geology and other fields of science. He built a telescope, several boats and many smaller items that sparked his imagination.
Paul had a life-long interest in art, and over the years he created quite a few pieces: drawings, large-scale photographs, pastels and fun sketches of friends drawn on cocktail napkins, to name a few. In 1999 he put together a solo show of his work at the John Bryan Community Center Gallery. He did not display his work often, so this event meant a great deal to him. Both of his daughters flew to Ohio from their homes out West to help him hang it. He was immensely pleased that many friends and community members attended the show. It turned out to be one of the brightest moments of his life.
In addition to his intellectual and artistic interests, he enjoyed several athletic and outdoor adventures. He was a serious tennis player for many years, beginning in high school, and enjoyed playing with friends and occasionally competing in tournaments. He went on several sailing, boating and camping trips with friends. His interest in motorcycles continued into his elder years, especially when his close friend joined him to share some great adventures, including rides across the country.
Of all of these interests and skills, his greatest passion was probably for the written word in all its forms. He truly wanted to make a difference and share his thoughts and ideas. He believed wholeheartedly in being an active, informed citizen. He took a turn at village council, met with and wrote letters to his representatives at all levels of government, and frequently wrote letters to editors of his local papers, almost to the end of his many years. His letters and other written documents were increasingly warnings and predictions about threats to democracy, beginning many years ago. While some seemed overly alarmist at the time, they turned out to be eerily accurate.
Paul lived many years after his retirement from OIA; long enough to work for 10 years at the Yellow Springs Library and continue to meet with various groups of friends to enjoy weekly dinners and happy hours, attend gallery openings, and participate in other events offered in his creative community.
Despite severe hearing loss and the other infirmities that come with extreme old age, he remained in his apartment until shortly before his death. This was possible only because of the remarkable, devoted management and staff at the Village, the Green County Council on Aging, and — most of all — the Yellow Springs Senior Center. The family will be forever grateful to them.
Paul is survived by his daughter Scotte (William), his granddaughter Kate (Reid), their children Cormac and William, and his step-daughter Tory, along with several nieces and nephews.
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