Brad was born in Long Beach, California, while his father served in the Pacific during World War Two. He grew up in Fairborn, Ohio, and attended college at Wake Forest University on a football scholarship. He was a Vietnam veteran, so proudly serving our country for 21 years in the U.S. Army. Following his retirement from the Army, he spent another 20-plus year career with Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama. Along the way, he earned Masters Degrees in Public Administration and Business Administration.
Brad was an elite athlete, heavily recruited as both a college football and baseball player. His choice of the Wake Forest gridiron, along with a keen eye for beauty and brains, would prove fortunate in courting the Wake Forest majorette, Leonore Gabriel. Brad and Lee married in 1966 and spent a lifetime in love. Brad was an avid sports fan and outdoorsman. A marksman with anything that could shoot, he most enjoyed flying, a good hunt, NASCAR, football and college basketball.
His passion for the outdoors was outdone only by his love of family. “Poppy,” as he was affectionately known as a grandfather, created a lifetime of cherished memories for all of those around him. He was a wonderful role model, and a gentle man of enormous heart, great kindness, compassion, endless patience and optimism. His noteworthy devotion to his youngest son, William, set an extraordinary mark of selfless love by which all fathers can aspire.
“Poppy” is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Leonore “Lee” Cooper of Montgomery; his children, Rear Admiral Bradford Cooper and his wife, Susan Cooper, of Arlington, Virginia, and William Gabriel Cooper of Montgomery; brother Keith Cooper of Huntsville, Alabama; grandchildren Bradford and Katie Cooper, and great-granddaughter, Avery Cooper, all of Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Graveside services will be held Saturday, June 13, 2020, 11 am at Greenwood Serenity Memorial Gardens, Montgomery, AL.
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