The last of the Coopers

By Deanna Brown

February 13, 2009 01:07 am

— When Margy Cooper celebrates her retirement this afternoon, it will be the first time in 64 years there won’t be a Cooper from that family line working on Beaton Street.
Margy, who has been at First Finance and Furniture on Beaton Street for 22 years, will be honored at a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. this afternoon at the store, located at 211 N. Beaton Street.
In 1993, Margy married Mack Cooper, whose father, Glenn, bought Cooper Shoes in 1949, a Beaton Street mainstay. He had worked there since 1945, and Mack and his brother Dwayne worked in the business with their dad, too.
Margy came to Corsicana in July 1987 as manager of First Finance and Furniture. Her career in finance companies began at a large finance company in Waco, which she fell into rather accidentally. Discovering she really had a taste and talent for the business, she came to Corsicana from Meridian in 1987.
“When I got here, we had about 500 accounts,” Cooper said. “We have about 3,000 now. It’s Kathy Jones’ turn to do this now.
“I want to play a little while I can, and I’m going to travel,” she continued. “I’ve got four or five trips planned. The first thing is courtside seats at a Mavericks game in Houston. I can’t wait!”
For the last 22 years, Margy has worked six and one-half days a week, and though Mack passed away nearly six years ago, she hasn’t had enough free time to even clean out his closets.
“I’ve loved it here, but it’s time to go,” Margy said. “There are other things I want to do.
“I will watch my grandkids play ball,” she said. “I’m not missing any more ballgames because of having to work 12-hour days.”
Her daughter and son-in-law, Denise and Bill Goodrich, live in Chatfield. Denise teaches at Rice Independent School District. Their children are Maya, 15, Ben, age 14, and Lacy, age 4.
Margy also intends to indulge her absolute most favorite pastime, which is kayaking. She took up that hobby with a friend from high school just a few years ago, and claims it’s no problem for the petite little lady, as she is the one who helps load furniture at the store if the guys aren’t around.
In addition to managing the store, Margy has also done income tax preparation for years, and is planning to retire from that, as well. She intends to finish putting together scrapbooks with Mack’s columns from past issues of the Corsicana Daily Sun.
Margy herself could write a book, with stories about President Clinton’s visit to downtown, tales of local downtown characters, such as the “baker,” and yarns about her coworkers and customers. But she probably won’t.
“It’s not a job just anyone can do,” she said. “You have to love it. I will miss the people. I’ve had lots of great customers, lots of them. It’s been fun working here downtown — I could write a book! I’ve been acquainted with many downtown characters, and there are some very colorful folk downtown!”
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