On March 7, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, members of the City Council, the Council on Aging, family, and residents gathered on Walnut Street in Newtonville for the official groundbreaking of the Cooper Center for Active Living, named in honor of Audrey Cooper and slated for completion in 2025. At the groundbreaking, her daughter Marion Pollock, her granddaughter Sarah DeMedeiros, and her great-granddaughter, 11-year-old Penelope DeMeideiros, were among the first to wield shovels at the future site of the Cooper Center for Active Living.
For those who knew Audrey Cooper, the Center could not be more aptly named. Her energy and commitment to every aspect of community life is legendary. In fact, Audrey Cooper was instrumental in working to raise money to transform the Newtonville (John R. Prescott) Branch Library into Newton’s Senior Center and was the first President of the Senior Center Board. The new Cooper Center will be a permanent tribute to her work on behalf of seniors, on the widest range of social and humanitarian programs.
A short ride up Walnut Street is the Newton Free Library — another of Audrey Cooper’s long-term successful accomplishments — for which she was named Chair of the Library Board of Trustees. And across the street from the library is Newton City Hall, where Mrs. Cooper served on the Planning and Development Board and the Human Rights Commission.
Closer to her home in West Newton, Mrs. Cooper was an active, hands-on member of the Newton Community Service Center (NCSC) — now called Family Access — where she was a leader of its Head Start program as well as NCSC’s Youth Commission and Fair Housing Committee. Mrs. Cooper was an eloquent advocate for affordable housing in Newton.
Mrs. Cooper believed strongly in promoting participatory democracy and civic engagement. She was an active leader in Newton’s Democratic Party, chairing her local Ward 3 Democratic Committee and serving on the Executive Committee. Whether at its annual Democratic City Committee brunch or political events honoring United States Senators, Congressmen, and Massachusetts political leaders, Mrs. Cooper planned, organized, and supervised every aspect of any gathering. Moreover, elected Democrats and would-be candidates sought her advice and support. During campaign seasons, her house was Democracy Central, the meeting place for people making calls to voters, or gathering to knock on doors, or planning strategy.
The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women bestowed its annual Unsung Heroine Award on her in 2011. And the Newton Human Rights Commission also honored her with the City’s Human Rights Award in 2009.
In her work life as secretary at the Underwood School, there was no detail that escaped her. She knew what should be going on and what was going on around her.
Those who knew Mrs. Cooper knew of her devotion to her dogs. They were her constant, beloved companions and would accompany her on long neighborhood walks. She was also an avid tennis player well into her seventies and even eighty: a veritable example of the “active living”in the Cooper Center’s name.
On a personal note, I cherished my four-and-a-half decades friendship with Audrey Cooper. And my granddaughter Rebecca, who at age six first assisted Mrs. Cooper in setting up a political event, was inspired by her. I carry with me the image of Mrs. Cooper and the six-year-old Rebecca having a solemn discussion about the best arrangement of napkins, plates, and cups for the reception. Mrs. Cooper gave Rebecca the same attention and respect that she demonstrated for her long-time friends, including Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman Barney Frank.
