Jennifer Cooper Dies of Ovarian Cancer

By Carolyn Wong

Jennifer Wilson Cooper of Novato passed away peacefully June 6 after complications from her courageous 3 1/2-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Born on Aug. 9, 1969, Jennifer was raised in Southern California, attended the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, during her junior year abroad, and graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara and San Francisco State University, respectively.

She began her career in San Francisco as a teacher, specializing in writing, literature and English as a Second Language. Later, she worked as a content manager for a global online education company and as a writer for an educational toy company and various book and content publishers.

More recently, Jennifer devoted herself to her 6-year-old son, James. She poured her heart and soul into his school and extracurricular activities, enthusiastically participated in the PTA, and edited his school's newsletter.

Jennifer lived a life of service to others, volunteering her time and efforts in particular to literacy programs for adults and children and guiding individuals with health challenges through restorative yoga practices. Moving to Novato in 2008 allowed Jennifer and her family to develop strong community ties and further their involvement in public service.

Her interests were great and varied and included her passion for yoga, science, the arts, dance, music, poetry, acting, gardening, cooking, reading, and writing. Everyone she met drew energy from her inquisitive mind and creative spirit and her strength and tenacity in living out her dreams. Her blog, fourseeds.com, exemplified her intention to surround herself with beauty and love and focus attention on renewal and inspiration. Her grace, elegance, and eloquence are apparent in every meaningful and insightful post. She had an astute appreciation of simple pleasures and shared that intuition with others — friends and strangers alike.

Jennifer is survived by her loving husband of 10 years, Dennis Cooper, and their son James, her parents Eunice and Ray Wilson, her brother Geoff and nephew Owen, and many close relatives and dear friends.

A celebration of her life will be held on Monday, June 11, at 3 p.m. at Unity In Marin, 600 Palm Drive, Novato. A reception will immediately follow in the courtyard.

For those who may wish to make a contribution in memory of Jennifer, a scholarship fund has been established for her son at Patelco Credit Union, c/o James Cooper, 140 Vintage Way #G9, Novato, CA 94945; account number 914824.