Our heavenly Father called Clarence Eugene Cooper home on Friday, January 18, 2013, when his heart stopped beating.

Clarence was born on February 5, 1936, to James Lester and Nancy Lillian (Norton) Cooper. He was the youngest of eight children born and raised on the family farm north of Adair, Missouri. He attended and graduated from Brashear High School. He worked in route sales over the years, distributing soda, bread and lastly potato chips, retiring from Guys Potato Chip Co. in 2000.

He joined the Missouri National Guard where he served for six years, following his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in Battery B First House Battalion 129th Artillery, and left with an Honorable Discharge in 1964, with the rank of Sgt. E-5. At a young age, Clarence, joined the Greensburg Masonic Lodge and was awarded his Fifty-year Membership Pin on June 4, 2009.

His wife, Marilyn Cooper of fifty-one years, survives Clarence; they were married in Kirksville on August 13, 1961. Also surviving are two children, his son, Joseph Eugene Cooper of Kirksville, MO, and daughter, Susan Jane Cooper of Des Moines, IA. He is also survived by four sisters, Marie Wissler of Allen, TX; Dorothy Shreve of Crown Point, IN; Betty Platz of Burlington, IA; and Katheryn Haley of San Diego, CA, as well as several nieces and nephews, including a “special” niece, Shari Lee Kroons of Manhattan, MT.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father, two sisters, Martha Alice Gibbons and Mary Lee Barnes, and one brother, Lester Dean Cooper.

Clarence was known by many names: Clarence, Gene, Sam, father, brother, and uncle. He was a hard working man who was devoted to his family and enjoyed hunting, fishing, collecting ball point pens, and in later years, reading the Bible and watching Bonanza on television.

Graveside service will be held 11:30 a.m. Wednesday (January 23, 2013) at Highland Park Cemetery in Kirksville, with Pastor Charles Jackson presiding.

Family will receive friends on Wednesday (January 23, 2013) from 10:00 to 11:30 in the chapel of Travis-Noe Funeral Home.

Expressions of sympathy in memory of Clarence Cooper may be made to Highland Park Cemetery. Memorials may be left at or mailed to Traivs-Noe Funeral Home, P.O. Box 306, Kirksville, MO 63501.