William Copeland Obituary

William (Bill) Copeland, Began a new life in heaven on 12/14/05. Cherished husband to Barbara, father to David Copeland of Chandler, Donald Copeland of Tulsa, OK, John Clabeaux of Orlando, Fl, and brother to Shirley Medina of Dallas, TX. Born in Greensboro, NC on
9/17/40, Bill spent most of his youth in Dallas, TX. He moved to Tuscon in 1960, then to the Phoenix area. Married Barbara in August of 1976. With great enthusiasm and fortitude he developed Laser Optics, a wholesale laboratory for ophthalmic lenses in 1978. Through the company's growth and development, Bill enriched the lives of many young people in the area, encouraging them to pursue a career in optics. His greatest pleasure was teaching. Many Ophthalmic Dispensers in Arizona enjoyed his seminars and classes. Retiring in 2004, Bill pursued his artistic talents sketching and painting Kachinas on canvass. He donated several of his creations to local charity events. Always the entrepreneur, Bill went back to school and followed a career in real estate, joining the John Hall & Associate family and sat on the Board of Directors of the Luxury Home Division. Bill was also treasurer for the Pinnacle Peak Estates HOA, has sat on the Board of the California Optical Laboratory Assoc, and was an investigator for the Arizona State Board of Ophthalmic Dispensers. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E Flower Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85014-5656 or to Wild at Heart (a non-profit rescue and rehabilitation of injured or orphaned birds of prey), 31840 North 45th Street, Cave Creek, AZ, 85331. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 2:00 PM on December 26th at Messinger Pinnacle Peak Mortuary, 8555 E. Pinnacle Peak Rd., Scottsdale.

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Published by The Arizona Republic on Dec. 18, 2005.

Memories and Condolences
for William Copeland

6 Entries

Mary Fisher

December 27, 2005

Dear Copeland Family,

I met Bill when I was running the eye clinic on a local Indian Reservation and Laser Optics was our lab. He was such a sincere and great man. I will miss him! I have one of his Kachina art pieces sitting on the wall in my living room. I will miss Bill. My prayers are with your family!

Sincerely,

Mary Fisher

Jennifer Weisman

December 22, 2005

Barbara, Our hearts and thoughts are with you at this time. May your memories of joyous times be with you to bring you smiles. AADO will miss his help and support.

Stacia Decker

December 22, 2005

Dear Barbara and Copeland family,

It is with a heavy heart that I send my condolences to you. I can not express how thankfull the Board of Opticians was to have both of your talents helping with investigations. The optical community has lost a true treasure, someone who believed in helping and educating others as well as advancing the field of opticianry. My thoughts and prayers are with you through this most difficult time and may your many memories bring you compfort and strength.

Sincerely Yours,

Stacia Decker

Chairman, Opticians Board

Doug Jones

December 19, 2005

I remember with great fondness, the times I spent with Bill and his son John Clabeaux in Bill's office at Laser Optics. Bill was a great teacher, even though I was advising him on different financial products he took time to stop me and walk me through his thought process as a business owner and teach me about how his business worked. Bill taught me more in our short meetings than I learned in all my business courses.

I remember visiting Bill and Barbara at their home, what a spectacular display of Southwestern Art, it was breathtaking and they were so hospitable, it truly felt like part of their family.

I owe a great deal of my success to Bill Copeland, he taught me so much about the inner workings of a business and the unique way that business owners make decisions. I will never forget Bill Copeland!

Dee & Robert Dwight

December 19, 2005

Barb, Our hearts, prayers, and love are with you. Bill's smile and caring ways will be missed. This world has lost a wonderful man, but Heaven is surely shining much brighter with his presence. Our spirits will be with you to celebrate his life and give thanks for touching our lives with his.

May God bless you and give you strength to bear this great loss.

With much love, Dee, Robert, and the Zoo

John Jorgensen

December 18, 2005

With sympathy to the Copeland family, Bill will be truly missed by everyone that knew him. I had the pleasure of working with Bill at Lazer, and he always made it a fun place to work. He always had words of encouragement for everyone.

I will miss him as I am sure others will too.

John Jorgensen & family

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