Mr. Ralph Edwin Cooper Jr.

Mr. Ralph Edwin Cooper, Jr. passed away Sunday, February 5, 2017 after a courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Ralph was born May 23, 1930 to the late Ralph Edwin Cooper, Sr. and Beaufort Humphries Cooper. The service will be held at 11 o’clock, Wednesday, February 8 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Windsor Lake Ward, 2350 White Pine Road, Columbia. Burial will follow in Centerville Cemetery, Ridgeway, SC. The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 o’clock, Tuesday, February 7, at Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, 7600 Trenholm Road, Columbia. Ralph was the older of two boys. After graduation from Columbia High School, he attended Clemson College for a short time, then went in the US Army; and later worked for the state for 30 years. After he retired from the Department of Mental Retardation, he started rooting azaleas and grafting camellias and that is when the real work started and lasted for more than 50 years. He enjoyed his church and going to the house of the Lord and the Temple. He had so many beloved friends at church who were like his family. He went to church even when he really didn’t feel up to it but wanted to be there to see everyone. Ralph was married to the love of his life, Ellen Branham Cooper, for sixty-three years. They both worked at the State Hospital and were always together. After retiring from the state, they worked together in the nursery business which they started over fifty years ago. Ralph so much enjoyed all of the wonderful customers that came in the nursery. His passion was for plants, flowers and his customers, of which so many are like family members. Many thanks to all who added so much to his life. He was an avid Clemson Tiger for over 65 years and so is his family. He so much enjoyed traveling, going on road trips and cruises with family and much loved friends, especially the Ferguson family. Ralph’s family members include his beloved wife, his “Babe”, Ellen; their children, Ronnie Cooper, who passed away twelve years ago, Ronnie’s widow, Debbie Cooper, Sherry and Gordon Bonitz, Glenn and Penny Cooper; grandchildren, Alysia, Stephanie, Rachael, Casey and Candace; great-grandchildren, Tyler, Ellis, Lea, Jackson, Tucker, John, Abigail, Ava, Eleanor, Porter, Emory and Little Banks. These precious family members always enjoyed being in the nursery with PaPa, riding the golf cart, lawn mower and gator. He is also survived by a brother, Dr. Thomas G. Cooper, and his wife, Janice, and their children, Daryl, Mark (deceased), Scott, and Susan. He so much loved his family, nieces, nephews and cousins. He looked forward to going to the country house (where Ellen was born and reared) almost every Sunday. Family members who lived close by would come and all sit on the porch in the summer, and in the winter, they would sit by the fire. This was heaven to him. He so much enjoyed Ellen’s big family; she was one of ten children. The family expresses its love and heartfelt thanks to all the nursing staff on the sixth floor of Providence Hospital and especially to Heart Strings Hospice employees that loved and cared for our wonderful Ralph. He always looked forward to seeing them. They are most loving and caring, especially “Miss G”. They always went the extra mile to make sure Ralph had excellent treatment. Memorials may be made to LDS Missionary Fund; 2350 White Pine Road, Columbia, SC 29223 or to the charity of one’s choice.

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Mr. Ralph Edwin Cooper Jr.

May 23, 1930 - February 5, 2017