Dr. Oliver B. Cope

Dr. Oliver B. Cope, 92, died at Deerfield Retirement Community at Asheville on Monday, December 29, 2008. He was husband of the late Patty Olivia Jones Cope, formerly of Mount Olive. Born June 16, 1916 in San Francisco, Calif., he was the son of the late Elmo and Marguerite Cope. He was very active in sports in high school, having lettered in four sports. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America and became an Eagle Scout. Dr. Cope attended Stanford University and received A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Biology. After Pearl Harbor, he went on active duty in the U.S. Navy as an entomologist doing malaria control and epidemiology in North Carolina, New Guinea, and the Philippines. After the War, he participated in the Naval Reserve and retired with the rank of Captain in the Medical Service Corps. Following the War, he did research for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the effects of pesticides on fish. After retirement he became a technical editor for the Colorado division of Wildlife, and a consulatant for the Denver Public Library. He moved to Asheville, N.C. in 1981. As a student, he was president of the Stanford Glee Club. In Asheville, he was president of the Rhododendron Civitan Club and the Asheville Stamp Club. Professionally, he was a member of Sigma Xi, the American Society for the Advancement of Science, the Entomological Society of America, the American Fisheries Society, the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists, and served as editor of a publication of Fishery Research Biologists. Dr. Cope taught at Stanford University, the University of California, Utah State University, and the University of Missouri. He is survived by a daughter, Carol Breeding and husband, Dennis; a son, Brian Cope and wife, Marlys, all of Littleton, Colorado, as well as numerous grandchildren, great-grandchldren, and great-great-grandchildren. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, January 3, at 11 a.m. at Tyndall Funeral Home in Mount Olive. Officiating will be Dr. H. Dennis Draper, Jr., minister of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive. Interment will be in Wayne Memorial Park with full military honors. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Saturday during the hour prior to the service.