David Frank Cooper

David Frank Cooper, 64, a Justice of the Peace since 2002, passed away Saturday, December 12, 2009, in Yuma. He was born October 18, 1945, in Long Beach, California.
David moved to Yuma with his family in 1959 and entered Kofa High School as a freshman that year, the first year the school was open. He graduated from Kofa, from the University of Arizona, and from the University of Arizona law school. Before law school David worked for IBM for several years in Los Angeles, Hartford, and Boston. He was also a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. He practiced law in Tucson and later ran a private practice in Yuma until 2002, when he was first appointed, and later elected, Justice of the Peace.
David was an avid outdoorsman. He ran marathons and biked for many years. His roots in Yuma were very deep; his father was born here, into a family that homesteaded property southeast of 8th Street and Somerton Avenue before Arizona became a state.
David is survived by his father, Frank, and his stepmother, Pat, both of Yuma; by his sister, Ann Cooper, of New York; by his daughter, Deidra Cooper, of San Diego, CA.; and by his stepson, Don West, of Phoenix, AZ. He is also survived by numerous cousins descended from the Cooper homesteaders of Yuma, as well as cousins from his mother's side of the family, who were early settlers in northern Arizona.
David was preceded in death by his mother, Martha.
A memorial mass will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 505 S. Avenue B, at 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 21, 2009.
The family asks that donations in David's memory be made to Amberly's Place, 1350 W. Colorado St., Yuma, Az. 85364, or Hospice of Yuma, 1824 S. 8th Ave., Yuma, Az. 85364, or Assistance League of Yuma, 1054 S. 4th Ave., Yuma, Az 85364.