Bruce Scot Lance Cooper

Bruce Scot Lance Cooper, 63

1960 - 2023

Swampscott - Scot, known as Coop to many, and Fruits to one, died on August 5, 2023 at Kaplan Hospice at the age of 63 after a four-year fight with cancer. As awful as it was, his sickness brought out the best in him. His health challenges only made him more alert to the struggles of others. As the end approached he never failed to ask how your mom, or brother or sister, or whomever was doing. Everyone knew Coop. He was the first Facebook user to rack up over a million friends. Everyone who got their daily text from Coop thought they were special, that he was only texting you. Only recently has it become apparent that he was sending a million separate texts a day, to family and so many disparate friends. All of whom he truly loved. Swampscott was his lifelong home. He grew up (sort of) at 16 Walker Road. He entered kindergarten at Hadley School in 1964 and there began many close and enduring friendships. On his tenth birthday, the Great Orr scored 40 seconds into overtime to win the Stanley Cup. No one was more passionate about the Boston Bruins than Coop. He was crushed by the Canadiens in 1971, redeemed in 1972, and then crushed every year until the present, except 2011. He was a man of letters. He had encyclopedic knowledge of music and literature. His early career as a lead singer fizzled out, because he could never remember when to come in, but it was at an early gig that he first became transfixed with a young lady named Whitney. They parted ways, and Coop dated a few other ladies, but he never got Whitney out of his head. They reunited in marriage in 1997 and went on to have their two wonderful sons, Jake and Maxx. It is a fact that Whitney stuck by Coop through thick and thin. Coop had a special love for his boys. They were and are his proudest achievement. He savored every opportunity to get them out onto the ball field, the rink, or to the movies for popcorn with a pound of salt. Coop was predeceased by his dad, James Bruce "Red" Cooper, and tragically by his beloved mom, Eileen Macleod Cooper, who died when Coop was only 26. He was a proud graduate of UMass Amherst ('84) where he played rugby and was the President of Kappa Sigma. He worked for many years producing news for WBZ-1030 AM radio, and was otherwise a prodigious writer for various North Shore news and sports publications. He would only get tattoos of his friends' faces, and only if you paid. Aside from Whitney and his beloved sons, Coop leaves behind his brothers Kyle and Keith, sister Abby, nieces and nephews, his dear mother-in-law Betty Boles (Nana), canine companions Deacon and Gracie, feline companion Pickles the cat, and devoted friends simply too numerous to list. The world has suddenly become a much less funny and entertaining place. We believe Fruits would endorse the sentiment expressed by Henry Purcell in 1689: "When I am laid in earth, may my wrongs create, no troubles in thy breast; Remember me, remember me, but Oh!, Forget my fate." We will do that.

Service Information: A celebration of life will be held at the Gerry 5 on Beacon Street in Marblehead at 2:00 p.m. on September 9, 2023.