With sadness we announce the passing of our friend, long time Cambridge resident, Beverly Lorraine Cooper, age 79, on July 21, 2021. Her friends were her family.
Bev appreciated good food, beautiful clothing and fabrics, jazz, Motown music, mystery books, political books, and more books, especially spiritual books that confirmed her knowledge of the Divine and the Mystic.
Bev was a woman of strength, taking on her personal hardships with grit and determination.
Graduating from Eastside High School in Patterson NJ, she worked for the US Post Office to improve her life, and move herself and her mother out of poverty and to a better neighborhood. That accomplished, she jumped at the chance to join the Peace Corps to see more of the world. Serving in Afghanistan she developed a love for the people and an ability to communicate in Farsi at the marketplaces and beyond. Her organizational skills, penmanship and ability to tame unruly piles of paper with a magician's sleight of hand served well. Her well decorated living space was a welcoming retreat. Bev was always a great conversationalist filled with animation and humor when she told her stories. Her traveling included charting a route that took her to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and beyond. When her term as a Peace Corps volunteer ended she traveled to Germany where taking advantage of an incentive program, she purchased a VW bug and traveled with Peace Corps friends through Europe including Germany, Austria, Hungary and Greece. After her return to the States Bev enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College (she called NOVACOCO) where she got her Associates Degree. Later she loved studying at Tufts University with an almost perfect 4.0 GPA. Bev was an enthusiastic and natural teacher. Always generous in sharing her extensive knowledge of anthropology, spirituality, she sparked the minds of her friends through lively and facinating conversations.
A seeker of Truth with a love of God and humanity she was a fighter for personal transformation, both for herself and others. She always encouraged others to tap in to the power of prayer or chanting (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo).
Her active mind, generosity and passionate concern for the world will be greatly missed.
Thank you to all her caretakers in her final years.
A memorial in her honor will be held on September 27, 2021 at 10:00 am at the meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 65 Binney Street in Cambridge, MA.
Those wishing to participate remotely can join at https://harvard.zoom.us/j/92617750920 or by calling 1-301-715-8592, meeting code 92617750920.
A graveside service will be held later that day at 12:00 pm in the Cambridge Cemetery, 76 Coolidge Avenue in Cambridge where she will be interred.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Bev's memory to the Charity of One's Choice or to raziasrayofhope.org dedicated to the education of girls in Afghanistan.