Name: George D. Cooper
City: Fairbanks
District: 21
Occupation: Businessman and Contractor
Born: December 24, 1923 - Cotopaxi, Colorado
Death: April 17, 2000 - Snohomish, Washington
Burial Location: Camano Lutheran Cemetery - Camano Island, Washington
Alaska Resident: 1949-63, 1970-95
Convention Posts:
- Member, Committee on Suffrage, Elections and Apportionment
- Member, Committee on Legislative Branch
|
Drag cursor over photo to see another picture of Delegate George Cooper. |
|
Quote from the Constitutional Convention:
"Mr. President, I'd just like to say one thing. If within the next
50 years you don't have a constitutional convention, this plan will at
least adopt five reapportionment committees which will meet and advise
the governor in the changes that should take place or would be necessary
for apportionment of Alaska."
-Delegate George D. Cooper, Day 50 of the Constitutional Convention,
addressing the apportionment of seats in the legislature. In the fifty
years since the adoption of the state constitution, there have been no
constitutional conventions.
Education: Edmonds Washington Public Schools
Public Offices and Organizations:
- Chairman, Republican Central Committee - 1960-63
- Fairbanks School Board - 1957-60
|
Obituary:
George Daniel Cooper
Former Juneau resident George Daniel Cooper died April 17, 2000, from a heart
attack in Camano Island, Wash.
He was born Dec. 24, 1923 in Cotopaxi, Colo. Cooper and his wife, Phyllis,
moved to Alaska in 1949.
Originally, he was employed with Juneau-Spruce in Fairbanks. Within a few years,
he began his concrete business, Northern Redi-Mix and Northern Sand and Gravel.
At that time, he was also the Texaco consignee for the territory north of the
Brooks Range.
He was a delegate from Fairbanks in the Alaska Constitutional Convention that
helped Alaska to become the 49th state. He also served as the chairman of the
Alaska State GOP in the early 1960s.
Cooper and his family left Fairbanks in 1963 and moved to Edmonds, Wash., where
his company, Dierolite, pursued and patented color corrective lighting. He returned
to Alaska in 1970 as the general manager of Concrete Products in Anchorage,
Fairbanks and Soldotna. In 1974, he worked on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline as project
manager at Copper Center for Earth Resources.
The next decade brought Cooper to Juneau where he was manager and CEO of Huna
Totem Corporation. He retired in 1995 and moved to Camano Island, Wash.
Cooper was an avid aviation enthusiast. His love of flying took him and his
family on many trips throughout The Last Frontier. He was also a violinist.
He is preceded in death by his daughter Kathryn.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Phyllis; daughter Marilou (and husband
Terry Klimpel); sons George Jr. (and wife) Debbie; Gregory (and wife Beth) and
seven grandchildren all of Camano Island, Wash; sisters Marilyn Rocks, Evelyn
Moore and Leona Anderson all of Washington state.
A memorial service was held April 21, 2000 at the Stanwood United Methodist
Church, Stanwood, Wash.
Reprinted with permission from the Juneau Empire
