Rex Eugene Cooper

He passed away Sunday, July 18, 2010 in Norman.

While he was still very young, his family moved to Wewoka where he grew up and attended school. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1950 and served in Korea with the First Marine Division. During his time of service he earned the Korean Service Medal with two campaign stars, the Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

After discharge, he worked for the Dallas Police Department for several years before moving to Houston to join the J.M. Rich Detective Agency as a Private Investigator.

While in Houston he met his wife, Janice Lee Sparks. They were married December 30, 1958. They later returned to Wewoka where he worked for the Wewoka Police Department and later for the Warr Acres Police Department for 14 years.

He also worked in the journalism field, serving as News Editor of the Holdenville Daily News, Wewoka Daily Times, and KWSH Radio in Wewoka. After moving to Pauls Valley in 1986, he worked as advertising rep and staff writer for the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat for four years. Also worked in the oilfield trucking industry in Lindsay for nine years and drove for the Pauls Valley-based Wackers Company for three years. During retirement, he served as dispatcher for the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office and Pauls Valley Police Department and taught the Oklahoma Self Defense Act gun-safety training courses.

He was a Past-Master of the Pauls Valley Masonic Lodge, Past-Commander of VFW Post 4576 and a member of the Guthrie Scottish Rite and past Patron of Norman, Pauls Valley Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star.

While active with the local VFW, he was instrumental in the planning and construction of the Veterans Memorial Monument on the Garvin County Courthouse lawn.

Survivors include his wife, Janice, of the home; one son, Glenn and his wife Norma of Pauls Valley; six grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Regina Smith; a brother, Walter Cooper of Saginaw, Texas, a sister, Juanita Keys of Houston, Texas, and his parents.