Mrs. Eddie Lee (Youngblood) Denton Cooper passed from this life on December 8, 2016, in Houston, still inspiring others at the phenomenal age of 94. She passed with peaceful anticipation of receiving the rewards of heaven God promises to faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Her home-going celebration will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 17, at St. Luke United Methodist Church, 405 S. Belknap, Mexia, with her pastor, Rev. Robert Campbell, officiating. Viewing and family visitation will be held Friday, December 16, from 4:00 – 6:30 p.m., with an additional viewing one hour before the service, both at St. Luke.
She was born, with mid-wife assistance, on the family farm near Coolidge, Texas in 1922. She graduated from Woodland High School as class valedictorian, and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Samuel Huston College, and a MA in Education degree from Prairie View A&M University.
Mrs. Cooper’s lifelong career and passion was teaching. She spent the entirety of her 38 year teaching career in Coolidge I.S.D. She purposefully chose to remain close to home and positively influence youth in the small community near the farm on which she was raised, and on which she helped remain in continuous family operation for over 120 years. She was also a faithful servant leader in her church, St. Luke U.M.C. – serving as adult Sunday School teacher, lay speaker, volunteer and mentor to others in various roles. She was a resident of Mexia, where her involvement included being a supporting founder of Caritas Mexia and active in the Limestone County Retired Teachers Association.
She was an avid reader, an adventurer, a lover of the outdoors, and seemed to never meet a stranger, prompting interesting conversations and connections with just about everyone she met. Her laugh was contagious; her compassion, endearing.
Though she became legally blind at age 92 and started to experience declining health about that time, she continued to encourage others not only with her sharp wit and insightful counsel, but also with her confident response, “I’m blessed,” when asked about her well-being, even through her frailest physical state.
She is preceded in death by – and ready to join – her parents, James E. Youngblood and Mattie (Hobbs) Youngblood, her 14 siblings (Alfred, Ulysses, Shallie, Mary Ethel, Grover, DeLillian, Theodore, Booker T., Billie, Oscar, Helen, Clarence, Rudolph and Tracy) and the loves of her life, husbands Luther Denton (1968) and the Rev. E. M. Cooper (1981).
Her faithful, strong and courageous legacy will be remembered with love by her daughter, Vicki Denton Holmes, and son-in-law, Sidney, of Houston; and granddaughter, Ashlee Holmes Eiland, and husband, Delwin, and two great-grandchildren, Brooklyn and Myles, all of Fox River Grove, Illinois. She is also survived by a host of special friends; her sister-in-law, Lena V. Youngblood, Houston, Texas; brother-in-law, Aldee Miller, Wichita, Kansas, and an extensive number of nephews, nieces, great-nephews/nieces, cousins and their families.
For those desiring to make memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider donations either to St. Luke U.M.C. – Eddie L. Cooper Memorial Fund (P. O. Box 930, Mexia, TX 76667), or to Coolidge I.S.D. – Eddie L. Cooper Scholarship Fund (P. O. Box 70, Coolidge, TX 76635).
Moore’s Angelic Funeral Home (www.mooresangelicfuneralhome.com), 406 Monroe St. in Teague, is serving the family.
