Coop update and funeral arrangements

here is the latest info from michael clark. please make every effort to be in town on saturday and be there to pay tribute to coop and show his family how important he was to us and how much he will be missed. i look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. i know that his family will appreciate it.

The medical examiner released Coop’s body, after performing an autopsy. After the entire autopsy, they could not identify a cause of death. Nothing was out of the ordinary in his body. The official cause of death is pending. The only thing unknown is the toxicology report, which will not be known for 3-4 months. As there was nothing in his room or house that showed any evidence of being used abusively, that report will probably have nothing definitive in it. Coop’s mom is a nurse and, after questioning the medical examiner at length, she thinks that this is probably as much as we will ever more. Their best guess is that his sleep apnea caused him to just stop breathing, which can happen in spite of his machine and without waking him up.

The memorial service is set for Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. Coop’s family, and his mom specifically, said that suits are not required. She said that he hated suits and would not have wanted to make everyone wear them. The family is requesting that instead of sending flowers…, that you make a donation to Lariat Creek Christian Camp in Coop’s name.

Any of you that knew or heard of Coop (or the ‘Admiral’), please send me any stories/memories of Coop. If they are appropriate, they may be used at the service, if not, we will re-tell among brothers as a tribute of our friend. If possible, I need these by the end of the night tomorrow. I hope to see many of you on Saturday. I appreciate your time and prayers.

Michael

Lariat Creek Christian Camp

Rr 1 Box 39b

GEary, OK 73040

Q & A with Steve Shoemaker in Tuesday's Oklahoman

Here is a link to a Q & A in the business section of Tuesday's Daily Oklahoman. Steve was Delta Prez in 1997-98 and is now the Director of Marketing for Ideal Homes in Norman.

Steve is the one on the right with the tie. The other 2 guys probably boss Steve around.

We've lost our brother Coop

Matt Cooper passed away over this past weekend. There is very little info available at this time. I will pass info along as I receive it. Matt was in the Delta pledge class of 1996. Please keep Matt's family and friends in your prayers.

UPDATE. 8/28/07

Memorial Service Saturday morning (time TBA) Forest Hills Christian Church

Email from Michael below:
The memorial service will be held this Saturday morning (still not sure what time, so I will send another email) at the Forest Hills Christian Church. Here is the address: 2121 N. MacArthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73127. There is still no word from medical examiner on the exact cause of death; we hope to have something tomorrow. The family is being taken care of, so the best thing to do would be to pray and to send emails and/or cards. His parents’ names are Terry and Carla Cooper. There address is 7428 NW 31st Terrace, Bethany, OK 73008. His parent’s email addresses are : ccooper@snu.edu and tcooper76@hotmail.com.

Last thing, the family is requesting pictures of Coop, so if you have any, please scan them and send them to my email address mnc@vwlaw.net and I will make sure they get them. If you need to mail them, my address is 3112 Crown Feathers Drive, Edmond, Oklahoma 73013. Please send those as soon as possible.

Note of thanks from Gary Shreck

here is a note from Gary Shreck for all of the Delta alumni.

I just wanted to get another note to all of you who mean so much to me and Paulette. Your prayers once again have taken care of us. The doctor says now all we need is time for healing. (yes prayer is a part of that). I do not see him again until Sept 21. This last visit was more good news. The active lymph nodes were all negative. He says for now I am not even going to have radiation. The muscle that they used to replace the section of my tongue is responding well. That is the need for more time to heal. Now instead of saying if I ever swallow again he is saying when I can swallow again. (That will be after my next appointment at least). In the meantime I am putting 8 bottles of ensure into my stomach tube each day plus medicine and water. In the hospital they gave me chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. I asked why the variety since I can not taste it. They said once in a while someone belches and tastes it. Someone asked if all of you should start praying for a belch now. No, just keep praying for swallowing and I will wait for that for taste.

One more time God's goodness and the power of prayer comes through strong. The doctors and nurses were amazed at my fast road to recovery. Your prayers for my recovery were a great testimony. One doctor said to me, " I do not know where you go to church, but you better keep going there."

I am pretty much in the house until at least my next doctors appointment. I am going to a speech therapist each Tue. She is doing some work to get me ready to learn to swallow again as part of the speech therapy.

I could not be more thankful to God and to all of you for the prayers. Also thank you for the concern for me and Paulette. The calls, visits, and notes have helped so much. Would like to see each of you and give you a hug for that, but guess I will stay in and heal as the doctor says.

I must say to OC family, enjoy labor day. This will be my first one not to work in 37 years. I am going to celebrate by pouring an extra bottle of ensure in my tummy.

Love you,

Gary