Mr. Prentice P. Cooper

Mr. Prentice P. Cooper, better known as Patrick in his family circles. He departed this world on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at Haven Hospice Care Center in Orange Park, Florida to a land that is free from sickness, suffering and death. Eighty-two years ago on December 22, 1940, the union of the late Theodore G. Cooper and Ruth T. Cooper both of Bahamian origin gave birth to Prentice Patrick Cooper in Miami, Florida. He was nicknamed Princey Boy, later as he grew older everyone called him Patrick by his middle name. He was one of three sons whom all preceded him in death. In 1965 he was joined in matrimony to Phyllis J. Popps to which they had two daughters. He married a second time to Leonie V. Cooper in 1986 and he was joined by two stepchildren. Leonie preceded him in death in March of 2023, and he was also preceded by a cousin, who was raised by his parents as a brother, Theodore Wilson. Prentice attended most of his childhood schooling in New York City and attending the final two years of high school at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Florida. He attended a year and a half of college at Howard University in Washington, DC, majoring in Architecture. He served in the armed forces in the US Army as a paratrooper and as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and later retired with twenty-six years of service from the Metro-Dade Police Department in Miami, Florida as a Police Sergeant t. He was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Epsilon Omicron Sigma Chapter in Gainesville, Florida and was an active member of the Knights of Columbus, having achieved the 4th Degree and his highest rank of Faithful Navigator. Mr. Cooper was most active in his church, Saint Philip Neri Catholic Church in Hawthorne, Florida and his passion was serving the poor and helping the elderly. Left to remember and cherish Prentice’s life are his two daughters. Kimberlee and her spouse Steven Edwards of Middleburg, Florida and Tiffany L. Cooper, of Richmond Heights, Florida; Two Stepchildren, Winston and his spouse Aqua Buddle, of Charlotte, North Carolina and Nicole Buddle Diaz, of Canton, Georgia; a stepsister, Sylvia Davis, of Miami, Florida; sister in law, Ruby Wilson, of Jacksonville, Florida; eight grandchildren, Olivia, Ava, Winston,III, Daniel, Khayla, Sierra, Kevyn, and Kiara. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, May 27, 2023, at 11:00 A. M., at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, 7919 US 301, Hawthorne. Interment will follow in Memorial Park East, with military honors. The family will receive friends Friday, May 26, 2023, from 5 to 7:00 P. M., at Williams-Thomas Funeral Home Hawthorne, 22205 SE 69th Avenue, Hawthorne.