Mary Cooper

Mary (Penny) Cooper passed from this life Sunday, January 22, 2023 at the age of 74. She was born April 26, 1948 in Memphis, TN the daughter of Dr. J.P. Vanderpool and Alta Orene (Alford) Vanderpool.

Penny married her Jr. High School sweetheart, DeRuse Cooper, Jr. January 27, 1968 in Okmulgee, OK and they shared fifty-four wonderful years together. ”Penny” will be remembered always by her family, coworkers, students and countless friends. Having taught and retired from Broken Bow Public Schools, she will have left many with fond memories of her dedication to education and her passion to help others succeed for over thirty years. She loved watching the Thunder play basketball, Oklahoma football, and listening to high school football games on the radio to help her husband break downplays at home and strategize his team’s future wins. She enjoyed watching Batchelor Nation with her loved ones and always had a puzzle at hand with the game show network on in the background. Penny’s love for the outdoors was immeasurable and her life was filled with trips to the lake and adventures in the motor home with her grandchildren and later her great grandchildren. She was always the person you wanted to be sitting around the fire with at the end of the night with an ice cold beer in your hands. We will all miss her and will know she’s there with us whenever we see a single rose blooming out of season.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Dr. JP Vanderpool and Orene Vanderpool, DeRuse and Willow Cooper; son, DeRuse E Cooper, III (Gene); daughter, Cynthia Shawn Hutchings; brother, James Perry “Jimmy” Vanderpool; sister-in-law, Sue Vanderpool; great-grandsons, Cooper Bradley Collins and Case Charles Bray.

Penny leaves to cherish her memory ,her loving husband, DeRuse Cooper, Jr. of the home; daughter, Candace Collins and Mitch Martin of Hatfield, AR; brother, Dr. Tom Vanderpool and wife, Susan of Tulsa, OK; sister, Cynthia Vanderpool of Tulsa, OK; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Dr. Ben Cooper of Cache, OK, Helen and Bill Nygard of Okmulgee, OK and Margaret Newendorp of Tulsa, OK; grandchildren, Hunter Hutchings, Haley and Kelby Dean, Caylee Collins, Canon and Cheyenne Collins; great-grandchildren, Carson, Chloee and Caitlee Collins, Emyree Bridges, Delaney and Decker Dean; a host of other relatives and a multitude of friends.

Funeral Services are set for 10:00 a.m., Friday, January 27, 2023 at Bunch-Singleton Funeral Home Chapel.

Graveside Services to follow at 3:00 p.m., at Okmulgee Cemetery, Okmulgee, OK

Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., Thursday, January 26th at Bunch-Singleton Funeral  Home.**A full obituary to follow.

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