Karen Vida Bowers-Cooper

Karen Vida Bowers-Cooper will be remembered as a devoted sister, mother, grandmother and step-mother. She spent her years in the Northwest and, as a child, lived through the historic Vanport Flood, which she remembered vividly. She loved traveling and the outdoors, spending summers camping and water skiing, and sometimes doing whimsical things like celebrating Christmas at Timberline lodge so the family could have a “white Christmas.”

Karen first married right out of high school to Peter Buckner and, over the next few years, gave birth to Toby, Jeffrey, and Mary. She and Peter divorced and about a year later, Karen married Wes Wright and became a stepmother to Cathie. Not long after, Wesley came along. Eventually, Karen and “Big” Wes divorced and she stayed single for some time before marrying Jim Cooper, with whom she spent the rest of her married life. She also became a stepmother to his adult children, Jim Jr. and Craig, treating them like her own from the beginning. Karen and Jim lived on the Long Beach peninsula for many happy years, and a generation of grandkids spent parts of their formative years at “Fort Cooper” being spoiled by Nana.

Karen was a character and a big presence, crusty on the outside but soft in the middle, and she was capable of extreme acts of generosity, like the time and effort she spent taking care of her beloved brother, Larry, who lived in a group home most of the time but spent weeks at a time staying at her house, with his own room and tv. She would do everything she could to make him happy and comfortable. She could also come off as grumpy and a bit pushy, but those close to her understood that ordering people around was her love language, and if you were lucky enough to be on the receiving end, you knew you were in her heart, just as she is in our hearts today. She will be missed.