December 7, 2022. MEMORIES OF JAMES COOPER
Greetings this Advent season! Many of you already know that Warren’s father “Jim” passed into heaven on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 89. He was an incredible man who lived courageously to the Lord and taught his children the same. He was a missionary sent out during a time of great revival and calling overseas. He developed a written language for indigenous people in Vietnam during war time, so that they would have the Word of God. He continued to work so that people would know that they were beloved of God.
Our son Emmanuel was born the day after his grandfather, on August 24, 2022, in Africa. Emmanuel took his grandfather’s name James as his middle name. James is also the name of one of the disciples of Jesus, a fisherman and a teacher. I have fond memories and videos of grandpa Jim singing to Emmanuel when he was a baby. I am so thankful for the times we shared together, even the quiet days in the last few years.
Warren was able to travel to Switzerland to give his eulogy. It was a beautiful tribute written by all three siblings. Here it is:
In Loving Memory of James Stephen Cooper (1933-2022)
Firstly I want to transmit my greetings from the friends and family in the US who could not be physically present. Secondly I want to thank this church. You knew Jim, you were friends with him and shared fellowship together. You showed extraordinary kindness to him. I think that you also enjoyed partnering with him in ministry here in this church.
For those of you who didn’t know much about Jim, here is a brief synopsis.
James Stephen Cooper grew up on Rum Creek, near Logan, West Virginia, the second oldest of 8 children born to a coal miner, George (known as Dan) and Lena Cooper.
He became a Christian through the ministry of Jewel Sterling and with her guidance attended Wheaton College near Chicago, followed by Fuller Seminary in Southern California. There he met Nancy Boehle from Tuscon, Arizona. They graduated on a Thursday, were married on Saturday, and started linguistic training with Wycliffe Bible Translators the following Wednesday.
In February, 1961 they set sail on a freighter leaving from San Francisco for their first assignment with the Kalagan people in the Philippines. A year later they began a 13-year translation project with the indigenous Halang people in Vietnam, many of whom were displaced from their tribal villages because of the war.
The communist takeover in 1975 steered them, now a family of five, into a series of assignments in Nepal, the Philippines, Neuchatel, Switzerland (to learn French), and finally to Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire. In 1984, as empty-nesters, they moved to the village called Awabo not far from Abidjan. This became home base for the next 11 years as they learned the Attié language, deciphered its grammar, taught literacy throughout the region, and worked with an ecumenical team of native scholars to translate the scriptures. Nancy died in 1995 just as the translation reached completion.
The following year, Jim met the artist Anita Lichtenberger-Berset while she was visiting a friend in Côte d'Ivoire. He fell instantly in love, proposed within two days, and subsequently followed her back to Basel Switzerland to await her response. They married in Bern and then celebrated with family in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Anita continued her work as an artist while Jim supported various translation projects from Côte d'Ivoire to Uzbekistan. In 2000 he retired in Basel where he and Anita were glad to share in the ministry of Basel Christian Fellowship.
Jim was a storyteller, a teacher, a competitor, a fixer of many things, a lover of Schubert and the opera, not to mention computers and gadgets, theological arguments, orchids, Rembrandt, WD40 and duct tape. He was a linguist who reveled in puns and spoonerisms and malapropisms. He was also the kind of improper American who talks to strangers—even on the tram in Basel. And when you told him something couldn't be done, he'd take a peculiar delight in proving you wrong. Most of all he was a lover of the Scriptures which he considered God's love-letter to the world and of Anita from whom he could barely tolerate the briefest separations.
During the last years of his life Jim suffered a series of strokes which disordered the precision of his thinking and took away much of his independence and ability to communicate. But even a severe stroke couldn't steal—and in some ways it further revealed—his hope, his humility, his sly sense of humor, his dignity, and his generosity of heart for all who were around him including nurses and visitors. For that we were are thankful.
He died peacefully in his sleep on (American) Thanksgiving morning on a day when his children were celebrating the holiday together.
Jim is survived by 3 children, Alice, Keith (Kathy), and Warren (Lindsey); 2 step-children, Christian (Rebecca), Denise (Raymond); 7 grandchildren, Jamie (Yonas), Julia, Dylan, Emmanuel, Reubens, Simon, Lillian; 2 great-grandchildren, Juana and Lioriel, and 2 siblings (Mary, Diane); also by the many many visitors to their apartment on the Turnerstrasse, or as he called it, "the best restaurant in Basel" and a home away from home for travelers and students from around the world.
As the youngest child I am going to say a few personal words. You all knew Jim as an elderly man, and that’s a bit sad to me. I wish you had known him as his kids did. He was always energetic, always dreaming up some scheme or adventure. He seemed utterly unintimidated. He seemed able to fix anything, even things that weren’t broken. In fact, the first thing he always did with a new appliance of any kind, was to open it up. He told me it was so he would know how to fix it, if it broke. I think he just wanted to know what was inside. Maybe that’s why I went into surgery. He seemed to know the answer to any question I had, even before Google and smart phones. I think it was evidence of his great curiosity and love for learning new things. It was something that he passed on to us.
My father and my mother went to the mission field as “Jungle Jim” and “Nervous Nancy”. She was the perfect complement to my father. She was frugal, pragmatic, cautious, and detail-oriented; all the things he was not. They served God in some very difficult settings, with faith, diligence and joy. As travelers on the earth, they taught us that we are strangers and aliens on this earth, and instilled in us their desire for an eternal home.
After my mother died, Jim returned to the mission field in Cote d’Ivoire. We said goodbye to him, wondering what would happen. He just was not the sort of person who would do well alone. Nothing could have prepared us for the blessing that God had for him. That is when he met Anita. We all thought he was crazy to propose to someone he just met, but that was one of his great skills; the ability to make a decision and to act. Anita, you were an incredible gift to my father. You helped him to see things and experience joys in a new way. I know that living with him was not always easy. Thank you for the time that you shared with him, put up with him, cooked for him, and for the love you show him. God brought not only Jim into your life but all of us Coopers.
I think it was not coincidence that our Father passed on what we Americans celebrate as Thanksgiving day. For us it was not an occasion of mourning, but of thanks to God for the life Jim lived, and the new life that he is only beginning to live. He is now in the presence of our Lord, enjoying a new life, a body that works. Perhaps he is chatting up a storm, greeting old friends, telling jokes and stories and making up for the last years when he was mostly silent. Maybe he is enjoying having a thousand tongues to sing his great redeemers praise. Maybe he is silent with awe.
For our part, we will miss him, but we look forward to seeing him again.
Shared by: Dr. Warren Cooper in the presence of Basel Christian Fellowship
Basel, Switzerland on December 3, 2022
We will update you all on our activities and ministry plans soon. We are doing well. God bless you!
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
On those living in the land of the shadow of death
A light has dawned.” Isaiah 9: 2
With love,
Lindsey for the Coopers
