Betty Cooper
Saturday, July 17, 2010 10:02 PM PDT
Betty Cooper
March 27, 1936 - July 13, 2010
Nampa
Betty Cooper, 74, passed away Tuesday, July 13, 2010,after a long and valiant struggle with an autoimmune liver disease. She was born in Mitchell, S.D., to Russell and Winona Freeman. Her only sibling was an older brother, Guy Freeman. Before she was a year old, she and her extended family moved to Idaho, as did many other family, friends and neighbors from South Dakota. She grew up and attended school in Caldwell. After her marriage to Charles Gary Cooper in 1954, she moved to Chicago, where Gary was attending engineering school and their first son, Jeffrey, was born. After a year in Van Nuys, Calif., Gary accepted a job at Idaho Nuclear Engineering Laboratories near Idaho Falls. On the way to Idaho Falls, Betty stopped at her parent’s home in Caldwell just long enough to give birth to a second son, Andrew. They lived in Idaho Falls for 19 years, and had one more son, Matthew, in 1962. In order to be closer to their parents and sons’ grandparents, Betty and Gary moved to Ontario Ore.,in 1976. They bought some land near the fairgrounds and built a mobile home park. Betty attended Treasure Valley Community College and graduated as a registered nurse. In 1988, with their three boys fledged and out of the nest and a few years of nursing experience, they sold Cooper Country Mobile Home Park and joined the Peace Corps. They were posted to Paraguay in South America, where they started and operated a health post in the South American “outback,” surrounded by jungle and fields of cotton and mandioca. They lived in a one-room bungalow without electricity or running water. During rainy season they had to hike 11 miles to where they could catch a bus to take them to the capitol, Asuncion, for their paychecks ($100/month), get their mail and hookup with the other volunteers. Betty and Gary both have said that those two years in Paraguay were some of the happiest times of their lives. They have returned to Paraguay several times to volunteer their services to this developing country. After returning to the United States, Betty founded and directed a successful business, Pathway Hospice. She and her staff provided hospice care to patients in their own homes. The business was sold to Holy Rosary Medical Center of Ontario in 2000. Betty believed living and working in Paraguay forever changed the way she viewed the world and life and death. In 2002 Betty and Gary moved to the city of Cancun, Mexico. They loved the Latino culture, warm tropical climate, and endless sunshine. Their home in Cancun became a favorite gathering place for their many Mexican friends and a diverse collection of American and Canadian expatriates. Betty’s failing health finally forced them to leave Mexico at the end of 2009. They settled in Nampa in order to be close to family and their friend and doctor, Tim Hodges. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Russell Freeman and Winona (Hefflefinger) Freeman, and her only sibling, Guy Freeman. Survivors include her husband, Gary; son, Jeff, and his wife, Renee Irvin and son, Benjamin, of Eugene, Ore.; son, Andrew and his partner, Shannon Harmon, of Caldwell; son, Matthew and his wife, Annette Echanis and their two children, Hannah and Cole of Doylestown Pa. Her brother’s widow, Mary Freeman, lives in Nampa along with her sons and their families. Betty leaves behind a beloved “family” in Cancun, Javier and Betty Sandoval and their son, Javier Junior and daughters, Karen, Betty and Gary’s godchild. Also Charlie Drew in Cancun, her BFF who shared her interests in politics, books, sense of humor, and solving crossword puzzles. Last but not least, she leaves her adored Mexican cats; mother, Missy and daughter, Baby Face, whose antics provided hours of entertainment to Betty, Gary and Charlie. All of Betty’s friends and acquaintances are invited to attend a Memorial service to be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Nampa at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the 24th of July. Cremation under the direction of Cremation Society of Idaho.
