MADELINE JANE COOPER

1934 - 2024 Died at Matthews House Hospice, Alliston, on Thursday, December 19th, two days after her 90th birthday. Jane's courage and quiet determination enabled her to carry on while battling cancer in her last year, with her cherished calico cat, Perdita, at her side. She was a loving wife and best friend to Reed (d. 2006); adored by her two daughters, Sheila (Steve McCutcheon) and Lisa (Richard Ritson); and much loved by her granddaughters, Renée and Brenna McCutcheon, and Julianne Ritson. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Jane was a quiet, shy child who loved books and cats. Post-war (1947-1949), she spent two memorable years at Prince Rupert School in Wilhemshaven, Germany, close to where her father was in charge of displaced persons' camps in the British Zone. Back in Canada, Jane completed a B.A. at McMaster University, where she majored in French and German. At McMaster, she also met the love of her life, Reed Cooper, a charming Bermudian, whom she married in 1958. Jane completed her Master of Library Science at the University of Toronto when she was a mother of two young daughters. She went on to have a successful, happy career as a librarian at the University of Toronto, this culminating in her post as head of circulation at Robarts Library. Upon retirement in the early 1990s, Jane and Reed moved from Toronto to Arielcroft, their country house in the Mulmur Hills. While Reed pursued his passion for art, Jane organized gallery shows and studio tours, as well as tending to her extensive garden. She undertook volunteer work for Hospice Dufferin, the Dufferin County Museum & Archives, and various responsibilities with the Dufferin Arts Council. Throughout her retirement, both before and after Reed's death, Jane pursued her lifelong passion for books, words and ideas, reveling in her membership in book clubs and writing groups right up to the time of her passing. Jane's turn at writing included projects for the museum, columns for DAC's Artsletter, and fiction in the form of short stories and a novel. A person of profound and searching faith, Jane was an active member of St. Clement's Anglican Church in Toronto, and then after her move to Mulmur in Dufferin County, a devoted parishioner of St. Luke's, Rosemont. Jane's family and friends will remember her for her intelligence, quiet compassion, kindness and generosity. She radiated a sense of personal strength and resilience that positively impacted everyone with whom she came into contact. Her natural curiosity, passion for the arts and culture and open mind also made her an endlessly fascinating person to know and with whom to converse. A funeral service for Jane will be held in the new year on a day to be determined. Special thanks must go to Jane's dedicated group of caregivers (Susan, Arlyn, Olga, Margarita, Silvia, Lynn, Trish and Lesia), the medical staff at Hennick Bridgepoint and Mount Sinai hospitals in Toronto, SE Health, Simcoe, and the staff at Matthews House Hospice in Alliston.