Esther Cooper

Esther Cooper, the youngest daughter of twelve children, was born on October 28, 1932, to the late Reverend Claudie John Cooper and Mrs. Dalia Woods Cooper in Red Springs, NC on a farm in Hoke County, Red Springs, NC. She departed this life on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the Southwest Christian Care Hospice in Union City, GA at the age of 88.

Esther attended Red Springs Elementary School. When she came home from school, she helped the family pick cotton to make ends meet. Her family raised farm animals; i.e., pigs, chickens, and practically every vegetable and fruit you could name. She didn’t help much on the farm because she was the youngest in the family and used that to her advantage. As a young child, she served in her father’s church as a Junior Usher at Solid Rock Baptist Church in Laurinburg, NC, where he pastored for over 48 years.

In the 1940s, her family moved from Red Springs, NC, to Laurinburg, NC. She graduated from Laurinburg High School in 1950. After graduating from high school, she was blessed with a job working as a receptionist for one of the first Negro doctors in Laurinburg. She later moved to Washington, DC to help her sister and brother-in-law in their construction business. Her first job was at the historic “Shrimp Boat” on East Capitol Street in Washington, DC. Esther was known for bringing delicious seafood home to her family. After working at the Shrimp Boat, she would help her sister, brothers and other family members build a house in Landover, MD, which was later considered the “family gathering place” or the “big house” on the hill.

Esther often spoke of her first experience with racism in the 1950s. After being in Maryland for a while, she decided to catch the Greyhound bus to visit her family in North Carolina. After arriving at the Greyhound Station in Fayetteville, NC, she got off the bus and followed the rest of the passengers to the front entrance of the bus station. (She was not aware that Negros had to go to the back of the bus station to wait.) She then followed the white passengers to the lunch counter and ordered a soda while waiting for her family to pick her up. The waitress asked her, “Did you just get off that bus from the North? Are you one of those Freedom Riders?” The waitress looked at her, huffed, puffed, turned her head, and walked away. The waitress later came back with her soda order and Esther continued to sit at the counter drinking her soda. She was oblivious to the fact that “Colored People” weren’t supposed to sit at the “White Only” counter. In the meantime, while she was drinking her soda at the counter, her family was frantically looking for her in the “Colored Only” section. They later found Esther quietly sitting at the counter drinking her soda. Her older sister, Lizzie Mae, asked, “What are you doing in here, you are not supposed to be in this section.” Esther told her sister, “I wasn’t going to the back because it was dark back there, so I followed the people going to the front entrance. I was following the Light where I could see.” Her family told her she could have been killed sitting in that “White Only” section. This was also during the time the Lumbee Indians, from Robeson County, Red Springs, NC, recently had confrontations with the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), which had risen in North Carolina during this period of time. The Lumbee Indians got together, ambushed, and ran the KKK out of town, never to show up again. These were perilous times in the history of Native and African Americans.

In the 1960s, Esther accepted a job with the Prince George’s County School system as a cafeteria worker. While working there, she went to Temple Business School in the District of Columbia and received a Certificate in Business. She later obtained a job as a clerk-typist for Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic), where she worked for over 20 years until her retirement in 1995. Over the course of her career, Esther received numerous outstanding service awards and recognition.

In the early 1970s, Esther worked with the Boy Scouts of America as a Den Mother to Pack 1653 for the Bears and Cubs. After retiring from Verizon, she became affiliated with the “One Church, One Child Inc,” of DC (OCOC). During her affiliation with OCOC, Esther was blessed to mentor three foster children. She received OCOC’s first, “Family of The Year” award; which was presented to her in a ceremony held by former Mayor Anthony Williams. Esther also received awards from the District’s Department of Senior Citizens for her many years working with the “Meals on Wheels” program, serving food to senior citizens.

Esther rededicated her life to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and joined Beulah Baptist Church of Deanwood Heights, Washington, DC, under the leadership of the late Reverend Moses L. Jackson. Immediately upon joining Beulah, she joined the Senior Ushers Ministry Board, the Interdenominational Church Ushers Association of the District of Columbia (ICUA of DC), and the National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc. (NUCUA), where she served faithfully in numerous official positions, mentored junior and senior ushers, but most notably the Senior Usher’s Chaplin. Esther’s passion and love for ushering was so deep and sincere, she instilled this passion, love and Christian service in her oldest daughter, Tangela. Esther always had a heart to serve others. She was also well-known for her delicious cakes and “moon” pies. Whenever there was a church gathering, you could always count on Esther to bring her cakes.

Esther started having health challenges and could no longer live by herself. She relocated to Atlanta, GA, to live and be cared for by her younger daughter and son-in-law. She later joined From the Hearth Church Ministries of Atlanta, where the church members fell in love with her sweet and gentle spirit. She was known for her beautiful smile, funny comments, and jovial laughter.

Esther was a devoted servant of the Lord and was not interested in receiving any awards or recognition for her service here on earth. She just wanted to do God’s will and help someone so that at the end of her life’s journey, she would hear her Father’s voice say, “… Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:23)

Esther leaves behind to cherish her loving memory: her only living sister, Lizzie Mae Wilkerson, Red Springs, NC; her daughters, Tangela Cooper, Upper Marlboro, MD and Claudia Starks (Pastor Charles Starks, Jr.), Atlanta, GA; her son Christopher Cooper, Landover, MD; her granddaughter Takisha Marie Hayes, Upper Marlboro, MD; her great-granddaughter Tierionna Barnes; and two adorable great-great grandchildren, Téa Chloe Diggs and Jett Rodney Diggs, Upper Marlboro, MD; along with a host of nephews, nieces, family and friends.