COOPER MILLIKEN

STILLWATER – Cooper Milliken, 90, an architect, died Feb. 4, 2009, attended by his friend, Ralph Winslow, at a Bangor health care facility. Born June 11, 1918, in Old Town, at the home of his grandfather, William Ames Cooper, he was the son of William Franklin Milliken, originally of Portland, a railway locating engineer in the U.S., Alaska and Mexico, and later owner of the handle and lumber manufacturing firm Hunt & Milliken Co., Old Town; and Abbie (Cooper) Milliken of Old Town, a piano teacher and performer in Old Town. Cooper is survived by his older brother, William Franklin Milliken Jr. and his wife, Barbara Ann, and their children, Douglas Lands and Ann Beverly, all of Williamsville, N.Y.; as well as many loving cousins and friends. He was predeceased by a nephew, Peter Cooper of Williamsville, N.Y. Cooper studied at the University of Maine, Orono, and graduated in architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., in 1942. During World War II, he worked for Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Corp., Buffalo, N.Y. After the war he was employed by Eaton W. Tarbell & Associates, architects, in Bangor; Eckbo, Royston & Williams, landscape architects, in San Francisco; and Bassetti & Morse, architects, in Seattle. In 1956 he opened his own office in Old Town and later in Stillwater. His firm designed contemporary houses, commercial and educational structures, including work for the University of Maine, Orono, and the University of Maine, Fort Kent. Cooper was a member of the American Institute of Architects; the Maine State Board for Registration of Architects; board of trustees of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle; city of Old Town Planning Board; board of Bangor-Brewer TB and Health Association; and Old Town Universalist Church. Cooper’s lifetime interests were music, the arts and literature. His volunteer work included working with Vincent Hartgen, painter and head of the art department at the University of Maine; and with Valerie Osborn, librarian of Old Town Public Library. A memorial service will be held in the spring. Gifts in his memory may be sent to Old Town Public Library, 46 Middle St., Old Town, ME 04468. A service of Brookings-Smith, LaBeau Chapel, Orono.