COOPER, Colonel Joseph D USAF Ret., age 89, of Dunedin FL passed away Dec 12, 2013 at Mease Hospital Countryside in Safety Harbor. He was born in Pierre SD, and has been a Florida resident since 1972 coming from the Washington DC area. Colonel Cooper served in the Air Force during World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam. He worked for 10 years at the Pentagon in Washington, and served as the senior military officer at the US Embasy in Rio de Janeiro Brazil and Lisbon Portugal. He is the recipient of the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. After retirement from the military he became director of international marketing for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Survivors include Lea Heagy of Dunedin; son Joseph Cooper Jr; grandchildren Valarie Fontaine, Brittany King, Krista Forcier, Jennifer Wertman, and Christina Isbel, and five great grandchildren. Funeral arrangements by Moss Feaster Funeral Home Serenity Gardens Chapel in Largo.
