Nancy Ann Cooper

Nancy Miller Cooper passed away on September 27th after a brief illness with her family by her side. She was born on November 19, 1946 and was the daughter of James and Mary Ann Miller of Upper Arlington. She was the great great granddaughter of James T Miller, the first mayor of Upper Arlington, whose father owned the farm that became most of Upper Arlington south of Lane Avenue. Nancy grew up living on Cambridge Blvd and Arlington Avenue.

Nancy graduated from Upper Arlington High School in 1964 and went on to graduate from The Ohio State University with her degree in education where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. After graduation, she met her soon to be husband Jim Cooper on a blind date and within 2 months they were married. They settled in Westerville and remained there with their three kids. She took a break from teaching to raise her family but eventually made her way back to teach social studies at Walnut Springs middle school in Westerville. She was very interested in world history and was always excited to share this love in new ways with her students.

When she retired, one of her favorite things to do was to travel and return home with armloads of souvenirs for her grandkids. She loved to take pictures and add them to scrapbooks so she could teach fun facts about her new favorite places to anyone who would listen. She also loved to travel in the RV and managed to see all 50 states as well as 37 countries. She and Jim spent many months of the year at their home in Tavares, Florida where they enjoyed warmer weather and more places to explore.

Nancy loved baking and always made cookie plates for friends and family at Christmas or any other occasion she could celebrate for them. She was also a big sports fan and loved watching every OSU football game and all the Reds baseball games that she could.

Nancy will be missed by her husband Jim of 55 years, brother Jim (Marti) Miller, children Jason (Angela) Cooper, Christy (W.C.) Vance, Tim (Suzanne) Cooper, and grandkids Jack, Grant and Simon Vance, Edward, Gretchen, Owen, Sam, Ellie and Charlie Cooper. She did not wish to have a formal service so an informal gathering will be planned in Westerville at a later time.

There will be an open house to celebrate Nancy's life on Friday, November 24th from 1- 4:00 with a time to share at 2:00. We will be gathering at the Old Bag of Nails Restaurant at 24 N State Street in Westerville on the 3rd floor. To honor her lifelong love and dedication to public education, we are collecting school supplies to be shared with local students in need.