Donald J. “Don” Cooper

Donald J. “Don” Cooper peacefully passed away on the morning of Sept. 8, 2026, at the age of 94. He was staying at Anita’s Gardens in Grafton, Wis.

He was born on April 6, 1932, in Fond du Lac, Wis., to his late parents Gilbert and Marjorie (nee Gendron) Cooper.

We believe he just couldn’t live any longer without his beloved wife Marion, who passed away in February. They were married 74 years at the time of her death.

Don grew up in Chilton, Wis., and went through a good portion of the Great Depression. Times were tough, but his dad worked for a dairy, so they always had milk, butter and cheese available.

From an earlier age, Don had a competitive spirit. He lettered in many sports from his junior year on — football (played with leather helmets), basketball, track, boxing and baseball. Don had some great, young coaches at Chilton, one being Otto Breitenbach, who eventually became the athletic director for the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1973 to 1988.

In his early 20s, Don still played on “city teams” and traveled, but also started coaching local girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. He loved to coach, considered getting a degree in teaching and was recruited by Lakeland College, but things changed when he met Marion and they eventually got married.

In 1958 he, Marion and two of three kids moved to Grafton, Wis., so he could take a new job with Tecumseh Products Co. in its newly created service division. Don worked there for 44 years and retired as their parts warehouse manager, a job he held for more than 30 years.

As the kids grew up, Don wanted us to get involved in sports, and if there wasn’t something available to do (before high school), he would help to start it, hence the birth of the Mid-Ozaukee Softball League for boys. Co-founded by him and Mr. Robert Knetter (another great man), the league grew to approximately 10 teams and was sponsored by Est Co., Schmitt Reality, Pat & Joe’s, Decay Fighters (dentist office), Ataco Steel, Morgan’s Jewelers, Busch Industries, Fred’s Clark Station, Ray’s Pallets and the Woolen Mills. This gave many boys from 8 to 12 years old their first experience playing an organized sport with weekly practices and games with new jerseys and hats. To start, the games were played at St. Joe’s and St. Paul’s fields, but the league grew larger and they ran out of space. Don contacted Mr. John Bliese and discussed the need for more baseball fields and two were built on the west side of John Long Middle School. These are still in use today. The yearly championship game was played at St. Joe’s field and broadcast on WGLB radio.

As the kids got older, Don got into refereeing grade school and high school girls’ and boys’ basketball games in Ozaukee and Washington counties.

After 10 to 12 years of this, the legs started to wear out a bit, so Don moved on to horses and horse shows. Training, showing and taking care of his Appaloosa horses was truly one of the loves of his life. He rode in competitive shows until he was 78 years old and even took one of his horses to the World Show in Dallas, Texas, where they placed fifth in a given class.

Also, Don and Marion were charter members of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Grafton, Wis., and Don held a number of church positions while there.

Don (and Marion) had a strong faith life, and he instilled that in his children as we grew up. Rarely did he miss a Sunday service in his lifetime.

Don is survived by his two sons, Robert (Dena) Cooper and Richard (Jill) Cooper, 10 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, other family members and friends.

A memorial service for Don will take place at noon Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, at Mueller Funeral Home in Grafton. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 10 to 11:45 a.m.

Please see www.muellerfuneralhome.com for online condolences.