H. Rebecca Cooper Cline

Rebecca Cooper passed away in Longmont on March 14, 2022, after a difficult adventure with pancreatic cancer. She was born on May 26, 1943, in Hampstead, Maryland. Her parents were Paul R. Cooper and Hester R. (Freeland) Cooper. Her strength and strong morality came from her parents and from the close community where she grew up. She attended schools in North Baltimore County, graduated from Hereford High School in 1961, and is a member of the Hereford High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Rebecca graduated from the University of Maryland and also received a M.S. from Arkansas State University.

Rebecca’s work history includes squirrel nesting research on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; teaching high school biology in Jonesboro, Arkansas and Camdenton, Missouri; and laboratory technician for basic immunology research at National Jewish Hospital in Denver. She was working at the Flying X Ranch in Wyoming when she met Ken Cline while Ken was stocking trout on the ranch. They were married two years later in 1979 in Boulder, CO and she became part of the Cline family business, Cline Trout Farms. She took care of many of the administrative tasks, advised clients about fish and pond management, and tried to prevent Ken and the employees from making too many big mistakes.

Rebecca also assisted the state and national aquaculture industry by serving on many boards and committees including United States Trout Farmers Association (President), chairman of the National Aquaculture Industry Forum, Colorado Aquaculture Association, and an industry representative on the Western Region Aquaculture Center. She also served agriculture on the Colorado Agriculture Council, the Colorado Agriculture Water Alliance, and the Boulder St. Vrain Valley Farm Bureau. In recognition for a long career of accomplishments and service, the National Aquaculture Association presented the Joe McCraren Distinguished Lifetime Contribution Award to Rebecca on March 1, 2022.

Church was prominent in Becky’s life. Her roots are in the community surrounding Grace Methodist Church in Hampstead, MD. For the past 25 years she has been a member of St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Longmont where she has been a stalwart member and leader of the altar guild.

Rebecca’s interests included camping and traveling with Ken, photography, family history and genealogy, and researching the many things that came into her inquisitive mind. She was an avid master gardener and raised anything that would grow in her orchards and vegetable and flower gardens. She was curious about, and usually knowledgeable about, anything in the natural world.

Becky is survived by her husband, Ken; her sister Carolyn (Charles) Kenmore of Los Altos Hills, CA; many cousins; and Olive, the last of about 40 cats. Becky will be remembered for truly listening to people, for the care and respect she gave us all, for being a great hostess, and for making sure that what needed to be done got done, and got done right.

Funeral service will be at St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 1303 S. Bross Lane, Longmont, CO on Friday, May 6, 2022 at 11 AM. A reception will occur after the funeral, followed by interment of Rebecca’s ashes at Mountain View Cemetery in Boulder.

A memorial and interment of ashes will also be held this summer on July 15, 2022, 11AM, at Grace United Church and Cemetery. 4618 Black Rock Road, UPPERCO, MD.

In lieu of flowers it is requested that memorial donations be given to St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 1303 S. Bross Lane, Longmont, CO 80501 or to Grace United Methodist Church, 4618 Black Rock Road, UPPERCO, MD 21156.