BANGOR – It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear mother, Joann E. Cooper, June 9, 2006. She was born Feb. 10, 1934, in Bangor, the eighth of 12 children, to Roy and Blanche Quimby. A year after graduating from Bangor High School in 1952, she married Vincent Catalfamo and had three daughters, Gini, Sherry and Laurie. The Air Force took them to many places and eventually back to Maine. While raising her daughters, she was active in the Advent Christian Church, where she enjoyed teaching Sunday school, hiking to Mount Katahdin and attending rallies and church camps. Years later she married “Jeff” Cooper and had two more children, Jamey and Diana. During this time she enjoyed camping with her family. She spent most of her life raising her children and worked at Bangor Mental Health Institute, Emple Knitting Mills, W.T. Grant’s and Sylvania. In recent years she worked in the fabric department at Marden’s. She loved sewing and made many toys, clothing and costumes for her grandchildren, as well as curtains, bedspreads and pillows she decorated her home with. She also had a large collection of dolls that accompanied her in each room of her house. She is survived by her five children, best known to her as “The Fab Five,” proudly displayed on her license plate, Gini Marquis and her husband, Brian, of Brewer, Sherry Silvia and her husband, Frank, of Palermo, Laurie Gauthier and her husband, Jim, of Brewer, Jamey Cooper and his wife, Andrea, of Corinth and Diana Cooper of Sarasota, Fla.; eight grandchildren, Vaugh Schafer, Summer Williams, Nicci Senter, Trevor Senter, Ian Badershall, Caroline and Lauren Cooper and Kassie Henderson; four great-grandsons, Michael Perkins, Brent Sabin, Logan Badershall and Cameron Schafer; a special life-long son-in-law, Rick Schafer and his wife, Suzi, of Edenton, N.C.; one sister, Beverly Sargent of Corinth; two brothers, Allen Quimby of Hermon and Lynwood of Glenburn; and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Jeff; six brothers and two sisters. Special thanks to Drs. Toby Atkins and Jean Benson and the kind and caring staff on the C Unit of the Maine Veterans’ Home. We gratefully acknowledge Cathy Sepcich, Ann Sanborn and Angela Johnson, for the loving care they gave to Mom and for helping us make it possible for her to stay at home. Mom found contentment at Sunset Meadows, where she lived for many years and had some very special friends, especially Donna Ellingwood. And naturally we save the best for last. Thank you, Mom, for that beautiful smile that you were so notorious for and which remained with you through all of your pain. We know that once again you are walking, talking, singing and dancing at that beautiful place you often mentioned throughout our lives. That place where we will all meet again some day. That place that we will always have to look forward to. We miss you, Mom, and our love for you will never end, Your “Fab Five”. Please join us in a celebration of her life 1 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at the Advent Christian Church, 2141 Broadway, Bangor, with Pastor Clayton Blackstone officiating.
JOANN E. COOPER
