John Cooper

John Cooper, 77, of Marshalltown, passed from this life peacefully at 2:02 p.m. on the afternoon of Thursday, October 13th, at the Iowa River Hospice Home. Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 19th, at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home with Rev. Dr. Kim Wilson of the 1st United Church of Christ officiating. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening at the funeral home. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. John was born on January 18, 1939, the son of John William Cooper and Mary (Heaston) Cooper in Merino, Colorado. He graduated from the Merino High School in 1956 as part of a class of seventeen. He worked on local farms while attending school and also worked harvesting beets on beet farms in the area. John left home to work in Anderson, Indiana in 1956 and go to school. He later moved to Dayton to work for Monsanto Corporation. In 1963, John moved to St. Louis, MO, to work for Monsanto and later transferred to Fisher Controls International, Inc. and retired from there in 1999 after 44 years of service between Fishers and Monsanto. John worked for the Electronics Department at Monsanto and Fisher Controls. Later, he transferred to the Sales Department to be a project manager and then the Educational Department until retiring. John was married in Dayton, Ohio, and two children were born. They later divorced. John was later married in St. Louis, MO and three children were born- Tina Cooper, Jeffrey W. Cooper and James W. Cooper. John was divorced from their mother. On July 1, 2005, he was united in marriage to the love of his life, Karen Shipley, in Marshalltown. They made their home in Marshalltown where he took pride in the community. He was an active member of the Morning Optimist Club, Past District Governor of Optimist 1999-2000, the Marshalltown City Council for 14 years, Marshall County Landfill Committee, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boy Scouts of America, United Way, Fisher Heritage Committee, Quakerdale Board of Directors, Quakerdale Finance Committee, Oktemberfest and Lioness Events and other local civic activities. He was a great supporter of Karen in the Compassionate Friends organization and their events and served as treasurer. He always was willing to help anyone who needed and gave of his time and talents. He was a good-hearted man. John will be greatly missed by his wife Karen, his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and a host of friends. Preceding him in death were his parents John and Mary Cooper, sister Doris Cooper and brother Gilbert Cooper and Karens daughter, Teresa Shipley.