Lois Cooper Dalak

Lois Cooper Dalak, 97, passed quietly in her Bentwater home, Montgomery, TX, Thursday, November 28, 2019. It is fitting that she died on Thanksgiving morning and her passing was just as she lived, with grace and gratitude.

She was a graduate of Arkansas University and would occasionally ‘Call the Hogs’ well into her nineties. She was the loving WWII war bride of Emil J. Dalak until his death in 1996. After the war they settled in the Detroit area, home to her husband, and lived there among family and friends until their retirement when they resettled to Tannenbaum, Arkansas. Graduating with a degree in home economics, Lois made her home her classroom. Every meal was a lesson in fine dining and friends and family anticipated the gatherings where Lois was bringing dessert. To the comment, “Oh, Lois, that looks so good,” her response was always the same, “Well, we hope it’s going to be good,“ but her small grin belied the fact she knew it would be. Lois and Emil later moved to the Conroe, TX area where they established their church home at Grace Lutheran Church. Lois loved her church family till the end. Just eight months prior to her passing, when her son, Joel, was a little late to take her to Sunday service, she got in her car and drove herself.

Lois worked crossword puzzles like a job and she especially enjoyed working them with her daughter Julie; her granddaughter, Lauren; and her niece, Diane Dalak Strablow. She lived for visits by her children, grandchildren, and her great children. Over the years she knitted countless afghans for them all, and her closet is filled with more, each tagged with a grandchild’s name. She found great joy in her grandchildren and till the end she loved sharing the story of great grandchild, Willa Snider, reaching for a handful of chocolate-chip pie anytime someone opened Oma’s refrigerator door.

She was grateful for the steadfast support by her son, Joel L. Dalak, The Woodlands, TX. Lois was preceded in death by her mother, Pearl Wallis Cooper; her father, Arch Cooper, and the two brothers she held precious, Alvis Cooper and Preston Cooper. She is survived by her friend and brother Preston’s wife, Nelle McMahan Cooper of Benton, AR. She is also survived by daughters: Cynthia J. Dalak Pitts, Woodstock, GA; Julie Dalak Snider and her husband, Martin Snider of Dexter, MI; and seven grandchildren: Lauren Snider Thompson of Dexter, MI; Bradley Snider of Driftwood, TX; Joel Stephenson Snider of Ann Arbor, MI; Anne Pitts Riner, of Cumming, GA; Emily Dalak and Payton Dalak of The Woodlands, TX. She is also survived by seven great grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews.

A celebration of her life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, December 5, 2019 at Grace Lutheran Church of Conroe at 13123 TX-105 W., Conroe, TX 77304.