Joseph Cooper III

COOPER, III, Joseph

Walter

Joseph Walter Cooper, III, 88, a native Atlantan and resident of Waverly, Alabama, for the past 22 years, passed away, December 30, 2024. He was born January 18, 1936, to Joseph Walter Cooper, Jr. and Katharine Howell Cooper. He graduated from Woodberry Forest in Woodberry Forest, Virginia, where he played soccer and was known as Stilts. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Joe served in the United States Army and Reserve and was recalled on the Berlin Crisis. In 1961, he married the love of his life and best friend, Margaret (Peggy) McCullough.

In 1964, he graduated from Georgia State University with a BBA. In 1969, Joe joined two of his fellow Phi Delts from GA Tech in the development of the original Underground Atlanta, where he was VP, in charge of construction and rental. In 1986 he started Cooper Inspection Services, Inc. (a home inspection business) that he ran successfully until retirement. Joe was an active member of the American Society of Home Inspectors and was instrumental in developing the exams for certification of home inspectors today.

Joe was an avid golfer, soccer coach, designer and builder until he discovered Labrador retriever field trials. This became his and Peggy's sport for 40 years. He loved training his Labs and running them in field trials all over the US and became a sought-after field trial judge. He was a member of the Piedmont Driving Club, Atlanta Retriever Club and First Presbyterian Church.

Joe was a loving, caring husband, father and grandpa, a good listener, and adored creating a good tease. To know him was to love him because you knew he always had your back. Joe will be missed by his family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Peggy of 63 years; daughter, Margaret Lochrane Cooper Plott (Mike deceased); and sons, Joseph Walter Cooper IV (Namrata), Samuel Inman Coooper II (Cristy), and John Gresham Cooper; grandchildren: Jesse Green Belcher, Jasmine Singh Cooper, Aaron Daniel Cooper, Savannah Juliet Cooper, Samuel Inman Cooper III; niece, Katharine Cooper Hardin; nephews, Allen Sage Hardin. Jr. and Gresham Brown McCullough Ill. He was predeceased by his parents; sister, Katharine Cooper Hardin; and brother, Arthus Howell Cooper.

A memorial service will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, this summer.

Donations in memory of Joe: Angel Flight Southeast, 8864 Airport Blvd., Leesburg International Airport, Leesburg; Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675.