Paul Jennings Cooper, 91, died peacefully in his favorite chair April 3, 2023, in Kettering, Ohio. He was born at home on January 19, 1932, in Pebble Township, Pike County, Ohio, to John Leslie and Minnie Louise Alexander Cooper. He was predeceased by his parents; brothers Clarence, John Charles and Neil; sisters Mary Jones and Margaret Wallace; and son-in-law David Baumann. He is survived by his wife Doris Aileen Tackett Cooper; daughters Julia Lynn, Beverly Jane, Karen Ann (Colin Flynn), Lydia Marie (David Baumann), Mary Beth (Ed McGee); grandchildren Jared McGee and Caitlin McGee; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Paul found both his lifelong loves early. He met Doris when his family moved from the No Name community to Dailyville where the Cooper and Tackett families grew up together. The September, 1948, Waverly High School Hi-Lites noted that "something" was going on between Paul and Doris, and that something never stopped. He learned mechanics on a neighbor's Model A and even as he lost his sight many years later, he would sit on the porch and diagnose by sound the problems of all the cars that drove by. He joined the Air Force in 1951 and was sent to the University of Southern California, School of Aeronautics in Santa Maria. After he graduated he was transferred to San Marcos Air Force Base in Texas where he was an aircraft maintenance technician. Doris took the train to San Marcos and they married in Seguin, Texas, on August 11, 1951. After his discharge the couple moved back to Waverly, Ohio, where Paul worked at McConkey's Auto Parts before moving to Clinton County, Ohio, to work at Wilmington Air Force Base as a reservist and a civilian employee. He taught aircraft maintenance to hundreds of young men including airmen from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Morocco, and Ethiopia, many of whom he invited home so they would feel less lonely away from their own families. When Wilmington Air Force Base closed he transferred to Rickenbacker AFB and the family moved back to Dailyville. After he left the Air Force he worked as an automotive instructor for the Pike County Vocational School, maintenance supervisor at Pike Lake State Park and Scioto Trail State Park, and service manager at Herrnstein Ford in Chillicothe and Hunter's Chrysler in Waverly.

Paul was a friend to everyone and always gave with warm hands. He will be remembered for his generosity and his ability to fix nearly anything. He most recently participated in a study with the Lewy Body Dementia Association in the hope of improving end-of-life care for this devastating disease.

Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. on Monday, April 10, 2023 at Botkin Hornback Funeral Home in Waverly with Pastor Carl Dunn officiating.  Burial will follow in Smith Hill Cemetery in Piketon with military graveside honors conducted by American Legion Post #142.  Family will receive friends from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

Special thanks to Dynamic Senior Solutions for helping us take care of Dad.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Pike Heritage Museum, 110 South Market St

Waverly OH 45690 or Lewy Body Dementia Association, 912 Killian Hill Road S.W. , Lilburn, GA 30047