Robert Cooper

Robert E. Cooper (Coop) died peacefully surrounded by family on September 26, 2022. He was born on March 16, 1933, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Mary Helen Tomecko and Robert Dunlop Cooper.  He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Youngstown, Ohio in 1951.

During the Korean War, he enlisted in the US Navy and served proudly until being honorably discharged in 1957. While stationed aboard the Destroyer Tender, USS Shenandoah, he earned the coveted rating of Second-Class Machinist Mate.  The rating amplified his love of machinery and mechanics and laid the foundation for his professional and personal life. He served in several overseas deployments, one of his most memorable being deployed to the Suez Canal in 1956. He earned numerous medals for his service, as well as several Letters of Achievement.    

Upon leaving the Navy, he moved to Erie where he went to work at Meyer’s Chevrolet, and where within a year, was promoted to the dealership’s automotive and fleet service manager. In 1975, he established ownership of Cooper’s Go-Cart Racing and Engine Repair. The business soon became a Millcreek landmark, and a destination for race enthusiasts, young adults, and hobbyists alike. In 2001, at the age of 67, Robert sold the business and its location, to Sheetz Convenience Stores which now operates a business there.

Robert was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church on Powell Avenue since 1962, where he and his family were faithful members of the Congregation.

Survivors include his children Sharon Goicoechea (Pascual), Mary Trott, Phyllis Johns, Robert Cooper II (Valerie), and Barb Zimmer, fourteen grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

To those of us who knew him as a friend, family man, neighbor, or business associate, he was a memorable, kind, caring, and generous man. You are missed already, and will be so, for years to come. Godspeed Shipmate.  

Friends may call at the Burton Quinn Scott Cremation and Funeral Services, West Ridge 3801 W. 26^th Street on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until the time of service at 1:00 p.m. Burial to follow in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church 1002 Powell Ave, Erie, PA 16505 or to the Erie Humane Society 2407 Zimmerly Rd, Erie, PA 16506.

Send condolences at www.BurtonQuinnScott.com.