Terry Wayne Cope

Cope, Terry Wayne, 65, of Brandon, FL, died peacefully at Melech Hospice House due to complications during hospitalization. During his last days he was surrounded by the love of his family and friends. Terry lived valiantly with Parkinson’s Disease for five years, never losing his spark and sense of humor, but weakened by his daily struggles. He was preceded in death by his parents Raymond Bernard Cope and Elaine Lounders Cope. Ray and Elaine were a great influence on Terry and provided a home full of love, joy and laughter for 18 years. Terry is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Gail Powell-Cope; two beloved sons, Zachary Cope of Gainesville FL and Andrew Cope of Brandon FL; mother-in-law, Audrey Powell; brothers-in law Walt Powell and Roy Powell (Jackie); Andrew’s girlfriend Nicolette Nasti; and numerous cousins including Pat and Heri Vivas, Jean Sadowski, Linda Jacobs and others, who were very dear to him.

Terry was born in Miami FL in 1952. He grew up in Hialeah and graduated from Miami Lakes High School. Growing up he was surrounded by a large and loving family including Abuela, aunts, uncles and cousins, and special friends and neighbors. His home was often a gathering place for parties, impromptu get-togethers, and games of touch football. He was a University of Florida Gator, and achieved degrees in landscape architecture and architecture.

Terry and Gail met in Gainesville where they were married in 1987. They moved to Seattle to start their lives together, a time of his life he described as a great adventure. Terry worked hard all week in architecture, and he and Gail explored the northwest by car and foot every weekend. His co-workers looked forward to hearing about their travels on Monday mornings. While in Seattle, Terry and Gail enjoyed hiking, backpacking and cross-country skiing in the Cascades with special friends, Heather Young and Pete Quinby. In 1993 Terry and Gail moved to Tampa, where Terry again pursued his love of architecture. Some of the happiest times of his professional life were as a partner with Chancey Design Partnership. He loved being a part of the creative partnership, and thoroughly enjoyed his colleagues and friends there.

By far, Terry’s greatest role in life was father. He loved being a father and was always there for Zachary and Andrew. Terry and the boys participated in scouting events (e.g., camping, eagle scout projects, pinewood derby), attended professional sports games (e.g., Bucs, Lightening, Rays, Gator football), and traveled together (e.g., France, Spain and Italy, the Northwest, Oregon, Key West, New York City, Florida beach communities). Terry was immensely proud of his sons’ accomplishments including Eagle Scout, youth sports, Zachary’s achievement as a Pharmacist, and Andrew’s achievement as a firefighter/EMT.

Terry always believed in participating in community activities and helping others. When in Seattle, he recorded books for the blind and tutored adults who were bettering themselves through education. In Brandon, he was a boy scout leader for six years and mentored numerous young men toward achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Terry served on the Brandon Hills neighborhood board to maintain the community pool for many years, and helped to organize pool parties, holiday parades and Easter egg hunts for neighborhood families. During this time, he became friends with Chris and Beth Lubeck, who remained dear friends for over 20 years.

Terry showed his love for extended family both on his side (The Lounders) and on Gail’s side (The Somers). He loved hosting an annual Christmas dinner for 30 to 40 of the Somers clan. He attended 11 Somers family reunions and was always the first to be at the table for raucous games of dice and cards, coordinate shared dinners across families, play with the kids at the pool and organize fishing for golf outings. Terry loved Lounders cousin gatherings at his home and in Howey-in-the-Hills. One of his cousins noted, “Terry was simply the best of us.”

Terry’s family appreciates the kind care of Natalie Lowary for the past two years, his nurse practitioner, Tracy Jones at the University of South Florida, the Tampa General Hospital Palliative Care team, and the staff of Melech Hospice House. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to LifePath Hospice (http://chaptershealth.org/) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (https://www.michaeljfox.org/).

Celebration of Life for Terry Cope will be held Sunday, October 22, 2017, 2:00 pm at The Regent, 6437 Watson Road, Riverview. Florida 33578.

Please RSVP to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-the-life-of-terry-cope-tickets-38010989894