Robert William Cooper
Robert William Cooper of Kemah, TX, age 61, died peacefully at home with his brother and sister by his side on October 11, 2022 after a brief and valiant battle with cancer. His siblings are comforted by the thought that he is no longer in pain and is reunited with his parents.
Robert was born on December 25, 1960 in Norman, OK, the son of William Allen Cooper, Jr and Auguste Ingrid Cooper (Schneider). Robert, who went by the nickname Bob, shared his Christmas birthday with his mother. This was just one of the things that made Bob so special. Bob grew up in Edmond, OK until 1971 when his family moved to West Lafayette, IN. He graduated from West Lafayette High School in 1979 and attended Purdue University for two years receiving an AS in Computer Information Systems in 1981. He worked for several years in Camden, SC and returned to Purdue to finish his BS in 1987. After graduation he moved to Houston to live and work until 2002 when he moved to Kemah.
Bob had a long and successful career in the IT industry working as a consultant and project manager implementing software systems for large corporations around the country and the globe. Since 2008 he specialized in SAP software installations. He was often on the road for long periods of time with complex installations and always made sure to look up friends and acquaintances wherever his work took him -he had a real gift for keeping in touch with people over many years.
Bob was a man of myriad hobbies and interests, he had great intellectual curiosity and loved to get “hands on” with whatever piqued his attention. His biggest love was sailing and that was the reason he moved to the Lazy Bend Community in Kemah. He was in his glory when he was out on his boat. He was also a certified scuba diver and enjoyed traveling with his friends on dive trips. He had a green thumb and spent hours in his garden and his knack for carpentry and home improvements kept him tinkering around his home as well. He combined his love of the outdoors with his fascination with visual technology and developed a great eye for nature photography. What many of his friends will remember him for the most was his incredible knowledge of cutting-edge computer technology and his ability to create systems that were complex and interconnected. He viewed the connectivity of the “internet of things” as symbolic of how the world and its people are interconnected.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents William and Auguste Cooper. He is survived by his siblings and nieces and nephews. His sister Ingrid Cooper Justice (Christopher) Jacob (Talya), Samuel, and Emma Justice and brother James Allen Cooper (Belinda), Phillip and Henning Cooper, their mother Bettina Cooper and Annabelle Roemer. He is also survived by his aunt and uncle and several cousins.
A celebration of Bob’s life will take place at 3:00 pm on Friday, November 4th at Crowder Funeral Home, 1645 East Main St, League City, TX 77573 followed by a reception at the Clear Lake Shores Club House 931 Cedar Clear Lake Shores, TX 77565. Donations can be made in his memory to The Melanoma Research Foundation or to the Creator Space in League City.
To view the Memorial service online, please use the link below:
Sail on Bob!- we will meet on the other side. Fair Winds Autie and Janie McVicker
Bob was taken way to soon. I will miss his stories and his passion for everything technology and IT related. He cared deeply for others and loved being around his family and would travel to wherever they were. My earliest memories of him were chasing snakes and other critters when he visited in Lynchburg, Va. No animal was too big or scary to catch and examine. Glad you were my cousin and that you can now visit with all our loved ones we have lost. Will miss you! Love, Karen
Love you Pal. Thank You for being there.
Rest In Peace my friend. You lived a good life, going after your passions and loyal to your relationships. You never lost contact and made sure we all new you loved and cared for us. You will be missed❤️
I Am Standing Upon The Seashore. by Henry van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me — not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,”
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
And that is dying…
Thank you for this.
Fair winds, flat seas, and eight bells, Bob.
We sailed many miles back in the day. It’s too bad we drifted away in the past few years, but you will be missed, my friend.
RIP Bob….Heartbroken. Thank you, Bob, for joining our large Christmas Eve Dinner Gathering last two years at La Brisas. We going to miss you!
Gone too soon. Sad this happened to you- will be missed in our neighborhood.
RIP Bob! I’ll miss out talks on the way to the airports but have enjoyed meeting your family TY
Dear Bob,
We met in Portofino on the dock with Jay and Patrick in 2015 or so. Our mutual interest was , next to some wine and such, a boat navigation system using OpenCPN and a Raspberry Pi. The idea was to make a prototype and see if there was a market for such an inexpensive stand alone unit complete with GPS and later AIS. We got the prototype unit working but there was always something new on the “Internet of things”. Wifi from his house to Portofino, making his sailboat controllable from his house complete with cameras. During our meets we talked about his family. His beloved mother that installed a German “ grundlichkeit “ in his house and life. German bread with Dutch and other cheeses and wine was a favorite for a nice evening . His sister who took care of his parents and brother in Germany he loved to visit. During our last few visits we discussed the why of his move from his house to the “ Creator Space”. We never finished that conversation and now I think I know why! You were happy there.
I still have have a bottle of wine to share. Will open that bottle on the hook at Redfish and let you Sail-away over the horizon.
Thanks Bob for opening my curious eyes for the IT and the many enjoyable conversations we had and being a great friend.
Will miss you.
Adrian Vuyk