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ROBERT WILLIAMS Born at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, NM , on May 6, 1928, died at his home in Cedar Crest, NM, on May 27, 2011. He had lived in Cedar Crest for 53 of his 83 years. He is survived by his two sisters, Nancy Cooper Faw (husband David) of CA and Mary Cooper Dietel (husband Burt) of CO; his four children, Timothy Hugh Cooper (wife Karen) of CA, and in the East Mountain area of the Sandias, Amy Cooper Atchley (husband Kent), Benjamin Robert Cooper, and Pamela Cooper Hutchison. The three younger children were with him at the time of his death. There are five granddaughters, Jessica Cooper in CA, Sarah Atchley Bondeson in NY, Rachel Atchley in TX, and Cassandra and Courtney Hutchison in NM; and one grandson, Graeme Cooper in CA. Surviving sisters-in-law include, Marie, (Mrs. Wayne Doak in South Dakota) and Arlene (Mrs. Lyle Beebe in Wyoming). There are countless nieces and nephews. Bob, as he was usually called, was the son of Hugh Phillips and Norma Williams Cooper. His father was an early automobile dealer in Albuquerque, founding the Cooper Motor Co. in 1914 and was the Postmaster of Albuquerque at the time of his death. His mother's family for four generations became New Mexicans as the Railroad transferred employees westward and her father was Station Agent in Las Vegas, NM, then later in Albuquerque. His brother Hugh Albert Cooper II, was killed during WWII when a Japanese kamikaze pilot struck the USS Intrepid on which he served in 1944. His grandfather, Hugh Albert Cooper founded Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque over 100 years ago. Bob was educated in the Albuquerque Public Schools and graduated from Albuquerque High in 1946; he attended the University of New Mexico 1946 and earned a B.A. in History in 1955. Later graduate studies in Economics lasted into 1960. From 1949 into 1952 he worked as a Station Agent for Continental Airlines where he served as a travelling relief agent for employees in 33 towns in six states across the Southwest. In 1955 he began his teaching career as a Department Chairman and History Teacher at Valley High School in Albuquerque. In the summer of 1957, another freshman teacher, Kathleen Mastel, had followed her brother Bill to Albuquerque and went on a family picnic in the Sandia Mountains. Bob and Kay met on the footbridge across the Creek on the old Ellis Homestead Ranch, a property bought by Bob's family many years before. Kay and Bob, the two teachers were married in the spring of 1958 and soon moved to the East Mountain area at the foot of the Sandias. His beloved Kay preceded him in death on September 11, 2010. From 1958-1960 Bob was an International Travel Counselor at the NM Division of the American Automobile Association; 1960-1966 he was History Master and Department Chairman at Albuquerque Academy and in 1964 took 15 of his teenage students on an 88-day tour of Europe, sailing into France aboard the Queen Mary Cruise Ship. In 1966 he became general operations manager at Sandia Peak Ski Area, and, in 1970, began his career with the US Forest Service as a fire patrolman for the Sandia Ranger District, transferred to the Santa Fe National Forest, Tesuque Ranger District in 1977 serving as Fire and Recreation Technician in the summer season and Snow Ranger at Santa Fe Ski Basin during the winter months. In 1980 he accepted the full time position offered to him by Kingbury Pitcher as the General Manager at Santa Fe Ski Basin until 1984 when the ski area was sold. A political activist since the 1940's, in 1984 Bob began his long service to the New Mexico State Senate during all regular and special sessions performing general research on public issues, bill preparation and analysis, answering constituent correspondence, public relations and supervision of other employees. He served over 40 senators in more than 20 years having run for a Senate seat himself in 1984. Bob was an innately curious person, calling himself an "inveterate history student". He did research in Washington, D.C. at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. He was a long time member, NM Historical Society; member, Phi Alpha Theta, National Honorary History fraternity and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. His lifetime of travels took him to 49 states and his love of music led to an 11-year stint as percussionist for the NM Symphony Orchestra There will be no funeral service, and Bob's cremains will be buried in the Cooper-Ellis family cemetery in Las Huertas Canyon in the North Sandias in a private ceremony. The family appreciates the excellent care he received from Presbyterian Home Health Services, plus the special attention from the Presbyterian Hospice Staff these past several weeks. Arrangements by Direct Funeral Services.
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