Remembering Lois Margaret Cooper

June 22, 1931 – September 29, 2026

Lois was born in Dymond Township outside of New Liskeard, Ontario to Mildred Irene (née Sackrider) and John Clark Pacey. As the eldest of ten children, she was to spend much of her childhood helping to look after her younger siblings, including four sisters, Myrna, Patsy, Betty, and Diane, and five brothers, Jack, Jim, Bob, Wayne, and Dorrie. After graduating from high school, where she was on the basketball team and later completed a commercial program, she worked as a secretary in New Liskeard until her marriage to William Gerald Cooper, whom she met when he was a student at the Haileybury School of Mines. The couple settled first in Matheson and a year later in Bancroft, Ontario where their first two children, William John and Barbara Jean, were born. After eight years in Bancroft, the family re-located to northern Quebec, where they lived in Rouyn-Noranda for a year before moving to a remote mining community known as Joutel, where their third child, Ronald Stuart, was born. Although Joutel was small and isolated, the couple made many friends there and were active in the local curling club. Lois was also an avid card-player and enjoyed getting together with friends to play bridge. The family also spent many summer vacations travelling throughout Canada, not only visiting relatives who lived in southern Ontario and Quebec, but also embarking on camping trips that took them as far as British Columbia and the Maritime Provinces. After eight years in Joutel, Lois and Gerry moved back to Ontario and settled in Timmins where Lois not only continued to enjoy curling, but also learned to play tennis and often went cross-country skiing. In the mid-1970s, she studied real estate and passed the Ontario Real Estate Association exams in order to practice as an agent, afterwards working for a period of time for a real estate firm in Timmins. After Gerry retired in 1997, the couple moved to Orillia, Ontario where Gerry was to pass away in 2025. Unfortunately for Lois, at the age of sixty-five she developed a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis which resulted in surgeries for hip and knee replacements, and for the rest of her life, she was to have periods of both good and bad health throughout her brave struggle with this debilitating disease. Although her illness put an end to her enjoyment of sports, she continued to play cards with a bridge club in Orillia. Lois passed away at the age of ninety-five and will be sadly missed by her children, John, Barbara, and Ron, as well as her son-in-law, Amadeo Parissenti, and her three grandchildren, Alex, Matthew, and Samantha. Arrangements entrusted to Carson Funeral Homes L. Doolittle Chapel, 54 Coldwater St. E., Orillia (705) 326-3595.