Patricia Ann Copps

Patricia Ann Copps of Dallas, Texas, passed away Sunday, March 13th at the age of 91. Born in 1930, 6th of 8 children to a Catholic family at the outset of the Great Depression in the small upper peninsula Michigan mining town of Iron Mountain.

Her father saw them through hard times as a postal carrier ,as her mother worked tirelessly to raise 8 children. Patricia learned the importance of hard work growing up in hard times. During WWII her father moved the family to Wisconsin and started a successful Ford dealership. Later, Patricia attended the University of Wisconsin, where she met and married her husband, and newly practicing doctor, James Copps. The newly wedded couple left the cold North to start a new life in the up-and-coming city of Dallas, Texas, where she soon gave birth to the first of her 3 boys. Patricia’s husband James established himself as a prominent Ophthalmologist in Dallas.

Patricia’s love for classical music and the arts drew her into lengthy service to the Dallas Symphony, where she served as president of the Junior Symphony League and later the Dallas Symphony League in 1978-79. She created the Stradivarius Patrons and Scroll Society ,which brought in much needed additional yearly funding for a Symphony aspiring to move to the next level. The Scroll Society brought together Dallas leaders with top celebrities and special events. She later led efforts to raise funding to build the Meyerson Symphony Center. Once her children were grown, she worked at Ebby Halliday Realtors, eventually advancing to the diamond circle.

Patricia was outgoing and welcoming to new friends. She believed the richness of life flows from the meaningful relationships you make. She brought out the best in people by bringing them together and learned from the iconic leaders of Dallas of the time. Her oldest son Lyman left Dallas to work for a large Canadian company in Tokyo, Japan ,before settling on the East coast. Her middle son, David, remains in Dallas, formed 3 artificial intelligence tech companies, sits on panels of the topic around the world and continues to play an important part mentoring Dallas start-up companies. Patricia’s youngest son, Craig, sought to extend his father’s medical legacy, graduated from Stanford, but was tragically killed in an auto accident before he could start medical school. She believed in moving forward from life’s setbacks as no problem was ever too large to overcome. She was a devout Catholic and will be sorely missed by her family and the many she came to know.

Patricia is survived by her two elder sons, preceded in death by youngest son Craig William in 1987 and her husband James M. in 2004. Her memorial service will be held at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas on Monday at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, a small contribution to The Arthritis Foundation would be appreciated. (arthritis.org).