I’m very sad to share the news that longtime Newton resident Audrey Cooper passed away this weekend. I can’t even begin to sum up the hours and love she devoted to this city. I’m hoping people will share stories here.
From Legendary Locals of Newton (2015):
“Few people have donated as much time to Newton as has Audrey Cooper, who turned 90 in March 2014. Born in Brookline, the West Newton resident and her late husband moved to the Garden City around 1950. Cooper worked as a secretary at Underwood Elementary School for a while her daughters were in school, planning to stay “just a couple of years,” but she loved the job so much she didn’t leave until her retirement 27 years and dozens, if not hundreds, of friends, later.
Upon her retirement, at the request of former Mayor David Cohen, she co-chaired the effort to establish a Senior Center in Newton, spending two years raising money and bringing the center to life. She then served on the city’s Planning and Development Board and Library Board of Trustees.
A member also of the Newton Community Service Center (NCSC) board, Cooper co-chaired the galas celebrating both the 75th and 100th birthdays of the center. She helped lead the Newton program for Head Start and served on NCSC’s Youth Commission and Fair Housing Committee.
In 2009, Cooper received the Human Rights Award from the city, and in 2011, she was named an unsung heroine by the Massachusetts Commission of Status of Women for her 50 years of service on the board of director of NCSC.
Cooper, who majored in political science at the former Pembroke College–the women’s division of Brown University–continues to volunteer as a member of the Council on Aging and continues to rave about the wonderful people living in Newton.”
Audrey was a life-long activist in the Democratic Party beginning with the Drinan campaign for Congress. Everyone checked out the signs in her front yard to see how to vote or whose signs she was holding in front of Peirce School on every election day.
Most of all, Audrey was the role model and inspiration for the generation behind her.We all aspired to be as effective, generous and caring as our beloved Aud.
And then, there were the wonderful cookies that she baked for the many meetings at her house on Berkleley Street……
God Bless Audrey Cooper. She will always be remembered as a Treasure.
Yes, Susie, Audrey was and should continue to be a role model for all of us. She was an amazing woman, and Newton was a much kinder and warmer place for her presence in it.
In every sense of the word, Audrey was a genuine class act. I first met her in late 1970 when I was between jobs in Washington just before joining EPA. That’s when I observed her in action during Bob Drinan’s first campaign. Her organizational and person to person skills were obvious to anyone who worked with her during that emotion charged campaign. She was a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter in 2016, but she went out of her way to stand up for Democrats like me who opted for Bernie Sanders when some in Newton viewed us almost as heretics. She was an inclusive bridge builder and she exemplified what real patriotism and being a citizen really mean. She will be very much missed.
Peg Hannigan and Audrey Cooper were the reasons I got into local politics in Newton. I’m sure that was true of many others. She was one of the kindest, big-hearted people I ever met. So was everyone in her family that I know. I will miss her. My condolences and best wishes to her family and friends.
In September of 1986, I walked into the Underwood School with my first kindergartener. Audrey’s face was the first we saw, and she played the role of loving but formidable gatekeeper for Cam Nadeau all through our Underwood years.
Later we’d often bump into each other around town and she’d always ask about my family – naming them by name, of course! She continued to do so much good in the city, for so many years after her official “retirement.”
Elegantly dressed, her platinum bun always in place, her countenance was practically regal. With a personality to match.
I hope her family is comforted by many joyful memories.