Janice Marie Cooper

Janice was born in Henderson, North Carolina and attended school there. She was an excellent high school student and attended The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, graduating with a degree in English and a minor in Spanish. She moved briefly to Durham, doing her first teaching at Eastern Alamance High in Mebane and finally to the then-tiny Raleigh suburb of Cary (population ~11,000).

Janice and Cary grew up together, and they grew strong. Having devoted cherished years to raising her children, she first re-started her career as an award-winning Avon saleswoman. She never lost her love of teaching, and she became a sought-after substitute English teacher at Cary High School in the mid-1980s. CHS hired her full-time in 1985, and she continued working until she retired in winter 2020.

Janice was one of the core group of teachers that made Cary High one of the best schools in the state. The sheer volume of lives she touched is just as evident in the powerful student and teacher testimonials on social media sites as in the fact that she couldn’t make it across Cary Village Mall in less than half an hour from current and former students stopping to tell her how she’d changed their lives.

She was an excellent teacher to all her students, whose ranks included both her sons and one of her daughters-in-law. However, her generous spirit really shone through when she encountered students who were struggling with complicated lives. So many students shared how they wouldn’t be where they were today, or perhaps even around at all, if she hadn’t fiercely refused to give up on them. She lives on in this legacy.

Her family was glad to share the wonder that was Janice with her students, knowing that she reserved her strongest love for them. She was a devoted wife, an incredible mother, and a grandmother filled with unconditional love. She was an amazing friend, an outstanding coworker, and a kind stranger.

Janice is survived by her husband Morris Cooper, her sons Jason Richardson and his wife Kirstin Elrod, and David Richardson and his wife Angela Richardson. She is also survived by Morris’s sons Scott Cooper and Steven Cooper and his wife Deborah. Janice’s memory will live on through her grandchildren Knox and Briony (Jason), Lauren, Jackson, Kaitlyn, and Ryan (David), and Austin, Ashlyn, and Anniston (Steven), as well as five great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Gerry, her nephew Glenn and niece Susan, and her great-niece Ashley and great-nephew Grey.

Janice is preceded in death by her parents Sol Wilson Renn and Louise Flowers Renn.

She also leaves behind a host of cherished family members and friends.

Janice’s family will receive friends and loved ones at 5:00pm Thursday, September 26, 2024 at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home at 200 SE Maynard Rd, Cary, NC 27511.

In honor of Janice, all friends and family are encouraged to wear purple or Cary High green to memorialize her life at the time of the visitation.