Alex Paul
A newsman’s newsman who loved all aspects of the business who challenged and encouraged his children and his employees to spread their wings in life and at work.
That was how David Oliver Cooper, former publisher of The New Era was eulogized by friends, family and former employees Saturday morning at the Evangelical Church.
Cooper, who worked at The New Era from 1958-1961 and owned the paper from 1972-1985, died January 7, following a lengthy battle with cancer.
A native Oregonian, Cooper was a straight-shooting, lifelong newsman, who loved the state’s outdoor wonders, especially its wild and scenic coastline.
An Air Force veteran, Cooper plied his hard-hitting prose at several Oregon papers including the Daily Astorian, the Monmouth Itemizer-Observer and the News-Review in Roseburg.
He was known for taking a strong editorial stance, even when the popular tide was against him covering topics via the paper’s editorial page and his popular column, “Cooper’s Keg.”
Cooper was a staunch conservative who never shied away from taking on liberals and who battled environmental extremists as far back as the 1970s. While his children remember their many trips into Oregon’s beautiful forest lands and being taught to respect nature, Cooper also believed strongly that forests should be operated under a multiple-use philosophy, which included logging.
Pastor Jack Higgins of the Cornerstone Fellowship church called Cooper a family man and said years ago he remembers reading a bumper sticker that read, “Pray For Me, I Drive Hwy. 20.” Cooper was instrumental in that tag line, working along with a local committee that fought for years for Hwy. 20 improvement. Their hard work eventually paid off.
Blessed with a booming, commanding voice, Cooper and his second wife, Sonia, blended a combined family of six teenagers when they married in 1976. Friends and other family members were amazed at how smoothly the two made the transition and welcomed their new brood under one roof.
“He was a strong man,” Pastor Higgins said. “They had a his and hers house full of kids who loved their dad.”
Three of the family’s daughters wrote a letter about their father and noted:
— He loved to play games and desired to win at all costs.
— He loved camping and backpacking and often took the children exploring.
— The Cooper home was like a library, overflowing with books. While some persons struggle with one book at a time, Cooper seemed to have 10 novels going at any given moment.
— He was stubborn and bull headed, a trait he passed on to several of his children.
Stepdaughter Cindy Linn said that although she was 17 when her mother married Cooper, it was quickly evident that the two were meant for each other and the family was now one.
“They came together through Christ,” Linn said. “Dave empowered my mom to be who she really was.”
Joan Porter, a sister-in-law, said Cooper “made us want to be better people.”
“Sonia and Dave’s house was where we all migrated whenever we were sad or lonely,” she said. “They were so wise, they always gave us such good advice. We could call anytime, day or night. They were our haven, the heart and soul of our family.”
Cooper was a die-hard community supporter, she noted, and pushed that philosophy toward everyone he knew, family or otherwise.
“I worked at the paper for a while and Dave dragged me to every event in town,” she said. “At that time, Dave must have been on 24 different committees. Believe me, we learned to shop locally.”
Friend and former co-worker John Oliver said Cooper’s commanding voice was enough to make a grown man quiver.
“His voice was powerful, like the largest grizzly bear in town had dialed your number,” Oliver said. “But there was something about Dave that made people want to be in his company.”
Tom Henderson, managing editor of the Dallas Itemizer-Observer, said that Cooper hired both he and his wife during Cooper’s tenure as news editor of that paper.
“He loved being a newspaperman,” Henderson said. “Dave always insisted on doing the right thing. He was a man of integrity who made the world of community journalism a better place.”
Former Itemizer-Observer publisher Nancy Adams said Cooper had a “zest for the news.”
Judy Maniates was advertising manager of The New Era during Cooper’s ownership and said that Cooper treated everyone in town the same when it came to news coverage, rich or poor, powerful or not.
“No matter what the cost, Dave stood for the truth, no matter how painful it might be. He was always truthful, unbiased no matter how much power someone might have. It cost him dearly many times. He was a mighty, mighty man.”
Although the newspaper business often entails long hours, Maniates said Dave and Sonia Cooper made it “a fun place to go to each day or say goodbye to late at night.”
Mona Waibel worked closely with Cooper during her years as manager of the Chamber of Commerce.
“I have great memories of Dave Cooper,” Waibel said. “Dave was Chamber president and I was the Chamber manager. We shared so many of life’s problems and I really admired his writing skills and The New Era. And, I always told him he was one of the smartest people I ever knew.”
Cooper had a wonderful insight into city, county and world problems, Waibel said.
“I still have the red T-shirt that Dave gave me that reads, ‘Dave Cooper for county commissioner.'”
Pete Porter was a sports writer for the Linn-Benton Community College paper, The Commuter, when Cooper lured him to The New Era after his graduation.
“Dave and Sonia were great to me,” Porter said. “They knew I had had brain surgery in 1973 and I was re entering the job market. At that time, Dave, Karen Vallad (Frachiseur) and me were the only regular writers on The New Era staff.”
In a few months, Cooper drafted other LBCC alumns photographer Tom Barnes and writers Sue Storm and Clifford Kneal.
“Dave and I both loved sports and young people,” Porter said. “Thanks to Dave and Sonia and later Alex and Debbie Paul, my years writing for the newspaper are some of the happiest times of my life.”
Porter said he was comforted knowing that Cooper had committed himself to Christ in the mid-1970s and that “Absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
Karen Frachiseur went from being editor of the high school newspaper to news editor of The New Era under Cooper’s tutilage.
“Dave gave me, like so many others, an opportunity. He was committed to the community. I was named Junior First Citizen the same year Dave was named First Citizen, which was a special honor.”
Cooper, while a hard liner when it came to digging out the news, was committed to helping all of his employees rise to their highest potential and in working with their unique needs, Vallad said.
For example, typesetter Joan Scofield would often bring baby lambs to the office and keep them in a box by the typesetting equipment because they needed to be bottle fed several times each day. That was fine with Cooper.
John McCardle of Monmouth said that when Dave and Sonia lived in that community after selling The New Era, they became “like a dad and mom to so many people, me included.” Their photo remains on his family’s refrigerator.
Ozzie Shaw, retired Linn County surveyor and an instrumental force behind the development of the Linn County Parks system, said it was Dave Cooper who wrote the first letter to the county commissioners supporting such an undertaking in 1959.
“People should think about Dave when you see one of our parks today,” Shaw said.
In 1960, Cooper wrote a letter supporting Shaw as one of three Junior Chamber of Commerce members to be selected as Outstanding Young Men in Oregon.
Linn County Clerk Steve Druckenmiller said that all he has today can be traced to the support he received from Cooper more than 20 years ago.
During Cooper’s one term as a county commissioner, Druckenmiller was appointed to fill the seat of another commissioner who had been recalled. Cooper ran for office because he believed East Linn county residents were not receiving much needed services available to other residents of the county.
Altough Druckenmiller at the time was a Democrat, and Cooper a staunch Republican, Cooper provided support and insight that launched Druckenmiller’s career.
“Dave was a one-term commissioner because he stood up and fought for things that cost him in the second election (he lost by only 100 votes),” Druckenmiller said. “Dave and I had many conflicts but Dave was always loving and kind. He was a man of honor and strength. He was one of the greatest blessings God ever put into my life.”
Cooper, Druckenmiller added, “was tough but had a heart that only God can put into you. He was proof there is a God in heaven.”
Former The New Era employee Rima Mealue said Cooper allowed her to try her hand at all facets of the business even selling advertising, which was extremely difficult.
“But, cold calling prepared me for owning my own graphic design business and has served me well,” Mealue said.
She said that Cooper’s daughter Christy (Duncan), who seemed adept at all phases of the newspaper business, once told her, “I can do anything because my dad says I can.”
That philosophy carried through to everyone who came into contact with Cooper she said.
Ed Cutler, former superintendent for Willamette Industries, worked with Cooper on numerous civic committees during the 1970s and early 1980s.
He praised Cooper for his untiring devotion to the community.
A display of photographs and other memorabilia at the service included a letter from former The New Era owners Dudley and Macoubrie confirming Cooper’s hiring as news editor in February 1958 at a salary of $95 per week plus $5 expenses.