Susan Cooper

Susan Prindle Cooper

ALLEGANY - Susan Prindle Cooper, 66, of 856 Lippert Hollow Road, passed away Thursday (March 16, 2023) at Olean General Hospital, after a short illness.

Born July 7, 1956, in Portsmouth, Va., she was the daughter of Anthony and Patricia Zylko Prindle. On Oct. 3, 1981, in Johnstown, she married Wayne W. Cooper, who survives.

Susan was a 1974 graduate of Guilderland Central School. In 1978 she received a BS in forest biology from Syracuse University and NYS College of Environmental Science.

She began employment with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and was the first female wilderness ranger in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. She also worked as a forester on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley. After she and her husband moved to Olean, she had been working as the forester for the City of Olean for over 30 years.

Susan found joy in being of help to others. Her job as city forester enabled her to use her talent in bringing an understanding to others of the importance of trees in the community, and in selecting and maintaining the proper tree for a location. She carried that same passion for helping others to her love of working with dogs.

Along with her husband, she trained dogs and their owners in dog agility, and also trained puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. She made many new friends in the blind community which to her was a delightful side benefit.

She was an active board member of Rebuilding Together in the Olean area and worked along with her husband and son Andrew to help those in the community have a safer home in which to live.

She leaves behind her husband, Wayne; two children, Ashley (Dwight Davis) Cooper of Guilderland and Andrew Cooper of Allegany; a grandchild, Oliver Davis of Guilderland; a sister, Kathryn Prindle; and a cousin, Linda (William) Herman of Vero Beach, Fla. Two more people who were special in her life were her neighbor's children, Kienen and Elexa Duggan, whom she had been teaching about puppy-raising and training.

At Susan's request, there will be no visitation or scheduled service. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Memorials may be made to Rebuilding Together Olean Area, P.O. Box 884, Olean, NY 14760; or to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home, Olean.