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John Harmon Cooper, Jr. was born to Beatrice Brooks Cooper and John Harmon Cooper, Sr. on May 23, 1942, in Berkley, California, and he passed away early in the morning of January 9, 2025 in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 82 after several health issues took their toll on his body.

John was preceded in death by his wife Julia Ann Sullivan Cooper (1976), father John Harmon Cooper, Sr., mother Beatrice Gilmore, stepfather Kermit Gilmore, stepmother Louise Cooper, brother Gene Cooper, and sister Koren Gibson.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years Trudy Cooper of Tulsa, son John Harmon Cooper III (Tina) of Tulsa, daughters Tami Bea Moses of Tulsa, Mary Higgins of Sand Springs, Tonya Johnson of Tulsa, and Tammy Ferguson of Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is also survived by his sister Ina Camara (Jim) of Manteca, California, 9 grandchildren (Erica, Tina, Johna, Jake, Jessica, Ashton, Gene, Mallory, and Julia), 15 great grandchildren, 4 great great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Soon after his birth, his parents moved him and his sister Koren to the Tulsa area where his younger brother Gene was born. Therefore, he was raised predominantly in the Tulsa area. He attended Webster High School and enlisted with the US Navy at age 16 where he finished his education and gained more. He served a full 20 years of active duty in the Navy and attained the rank of Chief 1st Class. While in the Navy, he was trained and served as a maxillofacial prosthetic and dental technician. He invented a specialized burn splint for the hands of burn patients that would preserve hand mobility that was patented by Navy. John also served in the Vietnam War where he was stationed in Da Nang and used his skills to assist surgeons in treating injured soldiers. After returning from Vietnam, John ran the dental clinics at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia and the Oakland Naval Hospital in California.

He retired from the US Navy at age 36 and went on to own and operate King Street Dental Lab in Portsmouth, VA and Coast to Coast Dental Lab in Stockton, CA, and then Cooper Dental Lab in Sand Springs, OK.

He was a member of the Woodland Acres Baptist Church and Riverside Baptist Church, both in Tulsa. He taught Sunday School for many years. He also volunteered for the Good Samaritan Mobile Health Care Clinic, a non-profit organization that provided healthcare in neighborhoods with limited access to care. He was also active with the Webster High School Class of 1960 activities.

John had a love of golf, and as a young boy was a caddy at the Oaks Country Club in Tulsa. He also loved family camping trips and fishing for black bass and sturgeon in California.

As many are aware, John struggled with alcoholism for a good portion of his life. However, he was able to attain sobriety with the support of Alcoholics Anonymous. He had 31 years of sobriety. He has remained very active in AA over the past 31 years, with ongoing attendance of AA meetings, "working his program" (the 12 steps), and he actively sponsored numerous other people entering AA with goals of sobriety. He was always glad to share the way to sobriety with anyone in need.

Most of all, John loved his family. It didn't matter if you were his biological child, his stepchild, a spouse of one of his kids, or a friend of one of the kids. He claimed you and loved you. He would beam with pride upon learning of his kids' and grandkids' accomplishments in life. His spunk, sense of humor, dance moves, and generous heart will be sorely missed by all of his family and his friends.