For his friends and fellow whippet racers.
My beloved Grandad Graham Cooper passed away peacefully last night.
As most of you know he has suffered from a rare terminal illness for over 7 years, over that period it has meant so much to him and our family to know he was in the thoughts of all his friends, he's been told of each and everyone of you who have asked about him and it's a great comfort to all of us to know he was so well thought of.
I am his biggest fan, he's always been my hero. As a child i spent every minute possible with him, i'd listen for hours on end to all his stories, there's no-one that's given me as many happy memories as he had, i just find it amazing that someone can be such an inspiration and touch someone's life the way he did mine.
He loved the simple things in life, he was in awe of nature and loved to point out all the different birds and fish on our walks, he marked on his calendar every year the day he'd seen the first swallow as they came back to england and loved nothing more than being out in the country and walking for miles to go shooting or to get the best peg for fishing a river. He was never without a dog and had whippets from being a young boy, a passion that he passed on to me, we'd walk for miles, him with the handlure over his shoulder and me with a couple of dogs in tow to find a nice flat field to go training. Nearly 5 years ago, he sat with my bitch whilst i was at work in case she went into labour and days later pointed to his pick, the ugly duckling of the litter who went on to become Sup Rch / Sup Nch / Ch Ch's Maid Your Point, nothing meant more to me than my grandad being there that day at Highgate, watching as Jude & i took our first ever title, he was absolutely bursting with pride. Whilst he loved to hear about Jude and Cara's achievements, he always had a soft spot for the underdog of our house Ziggy and had faith that one day he'd make it, he cried happy tears when i phoned him to tell him he'd got his first title at Swallownest. More recently when he was confined to his wheelchair he'd sit and watch every dvd of our gang racing, read over and over his copy of whippet news and was forever asking how the youngsters were doing with their training, the last time i saw him show real happy emotion was when i went to tell him that Keith (his nephew in law) had just got his first ever BWRA title with Anagram.
Grandad would do anything for anyone, wasn't interested in all the politics in whippet racing and you'd never hear him have cross words with anyone or a bad word to say about someone, he just enjoyed seeing the dogs do what they loved and when clubs were closing in the North West, along with the rest of the gang he helped set up A & T club.
I could go on forever but basicly just wanted to pay tribute to an absolute gentleman and thank everyone on behalf of the rest of the family for the calls, texts and messages of condolence. Everything is in place to give him the send off he deserves - i'll post details as soon as possible.
You can now rest in peace Grandad xxxxx
My beloved Grandad Graham Cooper passed away peacefully last night.
As most of you know he has suffered from a rare terminal illness for over 7 years, over that period it has meant so much to him and our family to know he was in the thoughts of all his friends, he's been told of each and everyone of you who have asked about him and it's a great comfort to all of us to know he was so well thought of.
I am his biggest fan, he's always been my hero. As a child i spent every minute possible with him, i'd listen for hours on end to all his stories, there's no-one that's given me as many happy memories as he had, i just find it amazing that someone can be such an inspiration and touch someone's life the way he did mine.
He loved the simple things in life, he was in awe of nature and loved to point out all the different birds and fish on our walks, he marked on his calendar every year the day he'd seen the first swallow as they came back to england and loved nothing more than being out in the country and walking for miles to go shooting or to get the best peg for fishing a river. He was never without a dog and had whippets from being a young boy, a passion that he passed on to me, we'd walk for miles, him with the handlure over his shoulder and me with a couple of dogs in tow to find a nice flat field to go training. Nearly 5 years ago, he sat with my bitch whilst i was at work in case she went into labour and days later pointed to his pick, the ugly duckling of the litter who went on to become Sup Rch / Sup Nch / Ch Ch's Maid Your Point, nothing meant more to me than my grandad being there that day at Highgate, watching as Jude & i took our first ever title, he was absolutely bursting with pride. Whilst he loved to hear about Jude and Cara's achievements, he always had a soft spot for the underdog of our house Ziggy and had faith that one day he'd make it, he cried happy tears when i phoned him to tell him he'd got his first title at Swallownest. More recently when he was confined to his wheelchair he'd sit and watch every dvd of our gang racing, read over and over his copy of whippet news and was forever asking how the youngsters were doing with their training, the last time i saw him show real happy emotion was when i went to tell him that Keith (his nephew in law) had just got his first ever BWRA title with Anagram.
Grandad would do anything for anyone, wasn't interested in all the politics in whippet racing and you'd never hear him have cross words with anyone or a bad word to say about someone, he just enjoyed seeing the dogs do what they loved and when clubs were closing in the North West, along with the rest of the gang he helped set up A & T club.
I could go on forever but basicly just wanted to pay tribute to an absolute gentleman and thank everyone on behalf of the rest of the family for the calls, texts and messages of condolence. Everything is in place to give him the send off he deserves - i'll post details as soon as possible.
You can now rest in peace Grandad xxxxx
