COOPER, STANLEY HERBERT Stanley Herbert Cooper, 90, of Etobicoke, Ontario passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the Dorothy Ley Hospice in Etobicoke.
He will be deeply missed by his loving wife of 60 years, his sweetheart Corinne Lena Cooper (nee Watters), of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Son of the late Adam and Maude (Bennett) Cooper of Belfast, Northern Ireland, he is survived by sister Betty Gadd of Belfast and predeceased by sister Dorothy (Simpson, Norris) Brady and best friend, business partner and identical twin, Derek Cooper. Treasured by his very close North American and Irish families: three “beautiful adorable gorgeous” nieces, Gillian Hall (Stephen Jackson), Heather McClellan (Gordon) and Diane Goodman (Craig), all residing in the GTA, his loving nephew Alan Cooper (Cheryl) of Columbia, South Carolina, and his nieces and nephews in Northern Ireland, Michael Gadd (Edith), Barney Gadd (Breidge), Deborah Gadd (Sam McCaughey) and Jacqueline Frazer. Stanley was dubbed “Uncle Papa” to Derek’s “Papa” for his adoring nine North American great nieces and nephews: Aren, Jeffrey, Linden, Andrew, Davin, Fair, Isabelle, Abigail, Henry and his great-great nephew Phoenix. Stanley’s Northern Ireland and Europe family also flourished with 10 great, and many great-great offspring all in close connection.
Stanley was born in Northern Ireland and completed a degree in Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast together with Derek. They arrived in Canada in 1952 during the major infrastructure revolution. By 1962, the twins started Cooper Consultants Ltd. a thriving downtown Toronto consulting practice. Stanley reluctantly retired at 80, but this offered more time for his other passions. While Stanley recently would be seen skippering “Striker”, he is best known to other Shark racers as the captain of “Seventh Heaven” a unique 1970’s chocolate brown 24′ Shark, Stanley was born to race and continued to do so until his late 80s with a variety of dedicated crew. He served as Past Commodore of The Boulevard Club, Toronto and active member of Etobicoke Yacht Club in Mimico. He rarely missed winning a weekly race. Stanley and his twin Derek expressed life with a zest that was doubly potent.
Stories abound that Stanley shared with glee where the “double identity” often worked to surprising advantage and humour. They were always a pair to reckon with! Robert Browning once wrote that “a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what is a heaven for?”. Stanley lived his reach to the fullest and heaven, on a daily basis, was constantly expressed in his precocious sparkling blue Irish eyes. He had a natural love for classic literature and the unerring principles of mathematics and had the intuition and skill to employ these principles as an art form. From the maximized functionality of the pre-stressed or post tensioned beam to the management of the whims of the winds on his favourite sailing craft, Stanley loved to prove the theorems embedded in the art of true physics. Heavy seas were never daunting, but he was a master of the precision of propelling his craft in the lightest of winds beyond the belief of all that trailed him. He also loved to talk about it! He was a gem of a man in compact frame with an effusive stature. His essence is captured in the distinctive phrase often echoing in the distance before he approached; “Lovely, Lovely, Lovely…” and we knew everything was good! As a lifelong Christian Scientist, Stanley knew life to be eternal and purely spiritual.
The family would like to thank Dr. Jessica Zive, Mary Lou Fulton, the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Dorothy Ley Hospice and the in-home caregivers from Home Instead, specifically Krishanthi, Deyang and Malkit, for their loving care of Stanley over recent months.
The family would like to ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Dorothy Ley Hospice, Etobicoke.
A “Celebration of Stanley” will be held at the Etobicoke Yacht Club in late spring or summer. Details will be available soon at www.cremationcare.ca