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Jeanene Cowper Obituary
Born in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho July 28th, 1938 "Jeanie" was the youngest daughter of Henry and Loretta Klinger. Her father built the family home in Angwin, California. She graduated Preparatory School from Pacific Union College in 1957 and received her nursing degree from Paradise Valley Sanitarium and Hospital in 1963. Later that year she married the love of her life, Ivan Cowper on August 15th. Early in 1966 the US Army relocated the newly weds to Fairbanks, Alaska where she worked at St. Joseph's Hospital. In 1975, the family relocated to Big Bear Valley where they opened the community's only funeral home, Big Bear Mortuary which they operated for 43 years. When she was not helping her husband with the business, she loved working as an ER nurse at Bear Valley Community Hospital. In 2012, Ivan's health forced them into retirement, and they returned to San Diego. She was a life-long Seventh Day Adventist and with her husband helped start the first school and build the church in Big Bear. Jeanie liked to spend time watching her favorite shows including Little House on the Prairie and When Calls the Heart. She was also an avid reader.
She was preceded in death by husband Ivan Cowper (2018), siblings Ione Wesner and Dwayne Klinger, brother/sister-in-law Don and Starlene Cowper, nieces Donnice Hildreth and Laray Goodwin.
Jeanene is survived by sons Dan and David Cowper, daughter-in-law, Christine Bonzon, nieces, Denene Cowper and Cora Bue, nephew's-in-law Vern Bue, Dwight Goodwin and Richard Hildreth, and her favorite granddaughter Rebecca Marsh.
Her sense of humor, her practicality and her loving nature will forever be missed.
A service will be held at Riverside National Cemetery on July 9th, 2025 at 10:30 am. With lunch to follow. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Big Bear Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church in her memory.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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