Glenn D. Cooper

Glenn D. Cooper passed away peacefully at his Asbury Heights apartment in Mt Lebanon, PA on December 13, 2018.

Glenn was born at home in Mount Pleasant, PA in August 1928, to the late John F. and Jerusha Cooper. After graduating from Ramsay High School in 1946, he learned to fly for the U.S. Navy in Pensacola, Florida while pursuing post-secondary studies at Keystone College. He later earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and graduate coursework in engineering and management at the University of Pittsburgh.

Glenn worked more than 40 years as an engineer with Westinghouse Electric Corporation first in East Pittsburgh and later in Orlando, Florida. His duties as an electrical generator engineer took him to dozens of power stations in every corner of the country and beyond. Inspired by his mentor, René Baudry and many beloved longtime colleagues, he won more than a dozen patents.

Throughout his life, Glenn revered the natural world and sought to understand its mysteries. After retiring, Glenn turned his attention to quantum physics, reading hundreds of books on relativity, Albert Einstein, theoretical physics, cosmology, chaos theory, the phenomena of life, and the search for meaning across history and cultures. He adopted a Buddhist approach of making sense of the world and traveled to Bodhgaya, India, where Buddha obtained enlightenment. Over twenty years, he recorded his insights in essays later published under the title "That Which Is" (Glenn Cooper, Create Space Publishing, 2014, available on Amazon.com). To sum it up, as Albert Einstein did, "Reality is merely an illusion."

Glenn loved and cared for family, cultivated friendships, kept up his Ramsay Class of 1946 connections, learning about animals of all types, enjoyed a good laugh, and was pretty good at poker. He loved sensibly-priced cigars and gin martinis, too.

He is survived by his four children, Stephanie Jan Cooper and spouse Diego Buso; Elizabeth Cooper Kauffman and spouse John Kauffman IV; Linda Jane Cooper and spouse Daigwon Jang; David John Cooper and spouse Tammy Lynn; grandchildren Sylvia V. Kauffman, John M. Kauffman V., Laurel S. Cooper, Mandy A. Cooper and Liberty J. Cooper; and beloved nieces, nephews, and their children.

Glenn was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Angela E. Cooper; and siblings Harold Cooper (1969), Albert Cooper (1998), Helen Meyers (2010), Janet Hawkins (2012), and Ethel Cooper (2018). And by his beloved canine friends Tippy, Toy, Fred, Cané, and Rosie.

Friends and family will be received Sunday December 16, 2018 from 11:00A to 2:00P at William Slater II Funeral Home at the corner of Forsythe and Greentree Roads just south of Greentree, PA. (1650 Greentree Road) In lieu of flowers, Glenn would have preferred donations to the Animal Rescue League or a charity of your choice.

In a letter to the widow and son of his friend Michele Besso upon Besso's death (pg 13 of That Which Is):

"Michele has preceded me a little in leaving this strange world. This is not important. For those of us who are convinced physicists, the distinction between past, present, and future, is only an illusion, however persistent." - Albert Einstein