Ora Clair Cooper was born to Arthur and Alberta (Dorris) Cooper in a log cabin on her family homestead on the Clark Fork River in Sanders County, near Paradise, Montana. She attended high school in St. Regis, Montana, where she, though shorter than five feet tall by one oversize inch, starred on the girls basketball team. She designed and sewed the team uniforms, green bloomers and jerseys, with yellow trim. She claimed always that green and gold are the very best school colors.
She was the niece of longtime timber man and Montana state senator, George Cooper. Her first job as a teenager was as a bull cook in her uncle's lumber camp.
Ora married her husband, Joseph, in Wallace, Idaho, in 1926. They first lived in Sanders County, but soon departed for the plains of eastern Montana where Joe became an employee of the Milwaukee Railroad. Their home was a section car on a railroad siding. This is where they began raising their children: Jim, Pat and Don.
The Depression times of the 1930s tested Ora and her family. They moved to the Parker family ranch near Haugen, and twice more, first to St. Regis and then to Anaconda. In 1938 they moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Ora served in the Red Cross during World War II as an ambulance driver, delivering expectant mothers from Coeur d'Alene to the Farragut Naval Station in a donated 1929 Packard hearse.
In 1944, she moved with her family to the construction camp at Hanford, Washington. She and Joe stayed on at the Hanford Works, and in 1959 built, with their own labor, a new home in Kennewick. Ora finally had the house and garden she had always wanted. She enjoyed homemaking: canning, gardening, sewing and quilting. She lived in her home until 2008, when she moved to the Manor at Canyon Lakes. Her family is grateful for the loving relationships she enjoyed with generations of her neighbors over the years.
During her years in the Tri-Cities, Ora became involved in a number of activities: volunteering at the Central Christian Church in Richland, cooking for the Richland schools, square dancing with the senior citizens, snow birding in Arizona, and camping at their wood lot in Packwood. She and Joe enjoyed traveling around America in their camper with family.
Ora died at her daughter's home in Kennewick. Ora was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph; her sisters, Marie and Norma; her brother, Neil; and her second son, Loren. Survivors include her sister Jean; her three children; and Kitty, her beloved cat. Descendents include nine grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. Ora's cherished extended family includes many nieces, nephews and friends, especially her nephew, Chuck, her helper, Jaime Garcia and her grandson's ward, Crystal.(Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, WA - 30 March 2010)
She was the niece of longtime timber man and Montana state senator, George Cooper. Her first job as a teenager was as a bull cook in her uncle's lumber camp.
Ora married her husband, Joseph, in Wallace, Idaho, in 1926. They first lived in Sanders County, but soon departed for the plains of eastern Montana where Joe became an employee of the Milwaukee Railroad. Their home was a section car on a railroad siding. This is where they began raising their children: Jim, Pat and Don.
The Depression times of the 1930s tested Ora and her family. They moved to the Parker family ranch near Haugen, and twice more, first to St. Regis and then to Anaconda. In 1938 they moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Ora served in the Red Cross during World War II as an ambulance driver, delivering expectant mothers from Coeur d'Alene to the Farragut Naval Station in a donated 1929 Packard hearse.
In 1944, she moved with her family to the construction camp at Hanford, Washington. She and Joe stayed on at the Hanford Works, and in 1959 built, with their own labor, a new home in Kennewick. Ora finally had the house and garden she had always wanted. She enjoyed homemaking: canning, gardening, sewing and quilting. She lived in her home until 2008, when she moved to the Manor at Canyon Lakes. Her family is grateful for the loving relationships she enjoyed with generations of her neighbors over the years.
During her years in the Tri-Cities, Ora became involved in a number of activities: volunteering at the Central Christian Church in Richland, cooking for the Richland schools, square dancing with the senior citizens, snow birding in Arizona, and camping at their wood lot in Packwood. She and Joe enjoyed traveling around America in their camper with family.
Ora died at her daughter's home in Kennewick. Ora was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph; her sisters, Marie and Norma; her brother, Neil; and her second son, Loren. Survivors include her sister Jean; her three children; and Kitty, her beloved cat. Descendents include nine grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. Ora's cherished extended family includes many nieces, nephews and friends, especially her nephew, Chuck, her helper, Jaime Garcia and her grandson's ward, Crystal.(Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, WA - 30 March 2010)
Ora Clair Cooper was born to Arthur and Alberta (Dorris) Cooper in a log cabin on her family homestead on the Clark Fork River in Sanders County, near Paradise, Montana. She attended high school in St. Regis, Montana, where she, though shorter than five feet tall by one oversize inch, starred on the girls basketball team. She designed and sewed the team uniforms, green bloomers and jerseys, with yellow trim. She claimed always that green and gold are the very best school colors.
She was the niece of longtime timber man and Montana state senator, George Cooper. Her first job as a teenager was as a bull cook in her uncle's lumber camp.
Ora married her husband, Joseph, in Wallace, Idaho, in 1926. They first lived in Sanders County, but soon departed for the plains of eastern Montana where Joe became an employee of the Milwaukee Railroad. Their home was a section car on a railroad siding. This is where they began raising their children: Jim, Pat and Don.
The Depression times of the 1930s tested Ora and her family. They moved to the Parker family ranch near Haugen, and twice more, first to St. Regis and then to Anaconda. In 1938 they moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Ora served in the Red Cross during World War II as an ambulance driver, delivering expectant mothers from Coeur d'Alene to the Farragut Naval Station in a donated 1929 Packard hearse.
In 1944, she moved with her family to the construction camp at Hanford, Washington. She and Joe stayed on at the Hanford Works, and in 1959 built, with their own labor, a new home in Kennewick. Ora finally had the house and garden she had always wanted. She enjoyed homemaking: canning, gardening, sewing and quilting. She lived in her home until 2008, when she moved to the Manor at Canyon Lakes. Her family is grateful for the loving relationships she enjoyed with generations of her neighbors over the years.
During her years in the Tri-Cities, Ora became involved in a number of activities: volunteering at the Central Christian Church in Richland, cooking for the Richland schools, square dancing with the senior citizens, snow birding in Arizona, and camping at their wood lot in Packwood. She and Joe enjoyed traveling around America in their camper with family.
Ora died at her daughter's home in Kennewick. Ora was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph; her sisters, Marie and Norma; her brother, Neil; and her second son, Loren. Survivors include her sister Jean; her three children; and Kitty, her beloved cat. Descendents include nine grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. Ora's cherished extended family includes many nieces, nephews and friends, especially her nephew, Chuck, her helper, Jaime Garcia and her grandson's ward, Crystal.(Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, WA - 30 March 2010)
She was the niece of longtime timber man and Montana state senator, George Cooper. Her first job as a teenager was as a bull cook in her uncle's lumber camp.
Ora married her husband, Joseph, in Wallace, Idaho, in 1926. They first lived in Sanders County, but soon departed for the plains of eastern Montana where Joe became an employee of the Milwaukee Railroad. Their home was a section car on a railroad siding. This is where they began raising their children: Jim, Pat and Don.
The Depression times of the 1930s tested Ora and her family. They moved to the Parker family ranch near Haugen, and twice more, first to St. Regis and then to Anaconda. In 1938 they moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Ora served in the Red Cross during World War II as an ambulance driver, delivering expectant mothers from Coeur d'Alene to the Farragut Naval Station in a donated 1929 Packard hearse.
In 1944, she moved with her family to the construction camp at Hanford, Washington. She and Joe stayed on at the Hanford Works, and in 1959 built, with their own labor, a new home in Kennewick. Ora finally had the house and garden she had always wanted. She enjoyed homemaking: canning, gardening, sewing and quilting. She lived in her home until 2008, when she moved to the Manor at Canyon Lakes. Her family is grateful for the loving relationships she enjoyed with generations of her neighbors over the years.
During her years in the Tri-Cities, Ora became involved in a number of activities: volunteering at the Central Christian Church in Richland, cooking for the Richland schools, square dancing with the senior citizens, snow birding in Arizona, and camping at their wood lot in Packwood. She and Joe enjoyed traveling around America in their camper with family.
Ora died at her daughter's home in Kennewick. Ora was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph; her sisters, Marie and Norma; her brother, Neil; and her second son, Loren. Survivors include her sister Jean; her three children; and Kitty, her beloved cat. Descendents include nine grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. Ora's cherished extended family includes many nieces, nephews and friends, especially her nephew, Chuck, her helper, Jaime Garcia and her grandson's ward, Crystal.(Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, WA - 30 March 2010)
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