Margie Jackalone Cooper

Our 60 th Reunion September 16-17, 2023!

Margaret (Margie) Jackalone Cooper
September 13, 1945 - July 19, 2018

From Maggie's husband, Bob Cooper

This has been the saddest of years for us, on July 19^th, our 43^rd wedding anniversary, Maggie died of cancer. In last year’s Christmas letter Maggie wanted me to call the mass in here brain a booboo in her head. She was very brave and optimistic throughout those next few months. Maggie lived a very active life even after she retired. Everywhere she went she made friends. This led me to have two events: a grave side service followed by family and close friend dinner at The Godfather Restaurant, where we had our 25^th and 40^th Anniversary parties. And a celebration of life: Maggie’s Last Hurrah for these friends and relatives.

A copy of the handout has been included, on its back cover is a brief version of her life. It doesn’t adequacy cover her sense of humor, her laugh, friendliness, warmth, reliability, her great generosity, willingness to take on responsibilities, creativity, patriotism, of course her great simile and that Maggie was a wonderful partner and loving wife, we enjoyed each other’s company. We worked at making each other happy.

For PDF click here: Maggie's Last Hurrah

During this period Maggie also suffered from lymphedema. It had gotten so bad that lymphatic fluid was leaking through her skin, leaving puddles as we went to various doctor’s appointments. Finally, we decided on New Years Eve that we go to the ER. After we celebrated the new year at the casino with friends, the casino had a drawing and I won a $1000, it delayed us, but afterward we went straight to the ER. I had to wrap Maggie’s legs evert day until she was moved to the nursing home. Until the end of April, we still went to plays (including Motown & Hamilton), dinners and of course casinos. I ordered a special left chair for Maggie, it was heated and had a vibrator, she slept in it until she went to the nursing home in May.

Maggie had wished to have her brother Bob come to Poway for a grave side service for their parents Jim & Ann. I had all three interned at the same time with niche stones that included a picture.

The day before the service and dinner while I was looking for scrapbook pages to add to one of Maggie’s 24 scrapbooks, I found 105 completed pages in a box. I had to purchase a mega book, but it could only hold 100 of them. These pages covered our life together starting in 1974. Early on I wrote in my pocket note book “Maggie’s Last Hurrah” and made that the name and e-mail address for her celebration of life. She had about 100 friend and relatives there, but many Maggie friends had my e-mails block as spam and when I called some told me they didn’t get my e-mails. Folks were there from Maggie’s work history, Maxwell & EBS, from Weight Watchers, COGG, the gym, Election Integrity Project, the Poway Senior Center many from Bunco, Liberty Tree Patriots, General Atomics and Rancho Bernardo Republican Women Federated.

Maggie's smile helped brighten the world, she found that donating your time can be both fulfilling and satisfying. Be aware and ready to offer an act of kindness. Thank our troups whenever you meeth them.

Maggie Cooper's final months:
July 19 was our 43rd wedding anniversary and the day that Maggie died of cancer.

Last year at the end of November, Maggie started to talk oddly, that day I took her to Kaiser Hospital ER. They told us is was a brain bleed, but after a day or so they told us that they found a mass in her brain. It was in her speech area where they couldn’t do a biopsy. What seemed months and after several attempts, they got a enough of a sample to tell us it was uncurable cancer that had spread to her brain.

At the end of April, she fell while using her walker in the house and had trouble standing again. The cancer caused her to lose the strength in her right arm and leg. Two days later she was taken to the hospital and after her first radiation treatment at UCSD she was sent to a nursing home in Santee. She received 5 total treatments and one chemo after which she started getting better. Then worst because they had stopped giving Maggie her anti-brain swelling meds. That was mid-May. Her speech degraded from then on making communication more and more difficult. Her right arm became totally usless.

There were other problems but in general Maggie kept getting worst through June, blood thinners for a blood clot caused bleeding. This led to low hemoglobin and a trip back to the hospital for two pints of blood. July 2 or 3^rd I decided to take her home for hospice care. Kaiser was able to get a bed delivered to our house on July 4th, I set it up in the living room. After visiting her in the nursing home every day but one for 2 months, I was now fully trained to take care of her. I hired someone to watch Maggie during the day. I would come home at lunch and back by 4PM in the afternoon. I took over throughout the weekends.

On July 18th I told my boss that next day was my anniversary and he told me to take the whole day off, so I did. On the 19^th Kaiser had sent a women chaplain, she asked me what Maggie and I would do on our anniversary, I told her that we would go out for dinner at the Godfather in Kearny Mesa or to a casino. She, like Maggie and I knew the owners, Chef Isidoro and his son Anthony Balistreri, and said she would contact them and pick up dinner for me. I had put country music on for Maggie, but after helping me to change her sheets in the morning she was not accepting food. She was sleeping most of the time and I was told to give her pain meds. Around 3PM the chaplain arrived with both dinners I had suggested. I had set up a table next to her bed, where I planned to eat next to her, to celebrate our 43^rd anniversary. While I found the Sea Bass dinner I wanted to eat, the chaplain had check on Maggie and she was alive. I then put the dinner on the little table, sat down and opened the box, with the first fork full of food in my hand, the chaplain said “she’s gone".

Maggie knew I had problems remembering dates, like my family's birthdays and she wouldn't want me to forget her, so she passed on ou anniversary, one of the dates I never forgot.

San Diego County Fair 1st Place
water color painting, Maggie and
award winning artist Cynthia Roach