Ambassador & Major General Jerome Gary Cooper

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/269825647/jerome_gary-cooper

General Cooper, USMC Retired, was the first African American Officer to lead a Marine Corp. Battalion into battle in the history of the United States Marine Corps. He was a native of Lafayette, Louisiana and a life long resident of Mobile, Alabama. "When I graduated from Notre Dame, I was one of three African Americans in a class of 1,500," Cooper said. "And when I got commissioned in 1958, out of 20,000 Marine Corps officers, only six were African-American."

Veteran, Diplomat, Government, Business and Civic/Community Leader, Public Service.

Jerome Gary Cooper was born on October 2, 1936 in Lafayette, Louisiana to a devout Catholic family, but grew up in segregated Mobile, Alabama and attended McGill-Toolen Catholic High School. Based on a recommendation from Archbishop Fulton Sheen of New York, he won an academic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance in 1958. He continued his education 21 years later, enrolling in Harvard University's SMG (Senior Management Graduate) program in 1979. In 2003, he attended the Directors' Education Institute at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Alabama's Troy University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Law in 1990.

Immediately after graduating from Notre Dame, Cooper joined the United States Marine Corps. From 1958 to 1970 he was an active duty officer and became the first African American officer in Marine Corps history to lead an infantry company into combat. He led his men through the hell of war, losing some but never leaving a Marine behind. He received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for heroism during the Vietnam War. Over his career he earned the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross. He left the Marine Corps in 1970 at the rank of major.

In 1970, Cooper became the CEO of his family's insurance company and funeral home in Mobile and in 1973 he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives. He was one of the first African Americans since Reconstruction elected to the legislature from south Alabama. Three years later (1976) he helped found Commonwealth National Bank, the first black owned bank to serve Southern Alabama. He was also reelected in 1978 but resigned to serve in the Governor's cabinet as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Human Resources. In this position, Cooper managed a staff of over four thousand and the largest agency budget in state government. As Commissioner of the Alabama State Department of Human Resources, he managed a staff of over 4,000 and the state's largest agency budget. In 1981 he joined David Volkert and Associates, an engineering and architectural firm in Mobile, Alabama, as vice president for marketing.

But the Marine Corps again beckoned. In 1988, he returned to active duty and was promoted to the rank of Major General, functioning as Director of Personnel at Marine Corps Headquarters. He retired in 1989, when President George H. W. Bush nominated him to be Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs). He served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force until 1992, when he returned to David Volkert and Associates as Senior Vice President.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Cooper to serve as the United States Ambassador to Jamaica, a position he held until 1997. As Ambassador, Cooper identified himself closely with the country's education and business sectors.

Ambassador Cooper was the Chairman of CNB Bancorp and the retired Chairman of the Board of Commonwealth National Bank. He was on a wide range of boards including the Boards of United States Steel Corporation, Protective Life and others an served on the Boards of Mobile, American Friends of Jamaica and others. He has also served on the Boards of Talladega College and Spring Hill College. His public service has been recognized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), B'nai B'rith, the City of Mobile, the Secretary of the Navy, the University of Notre Dame, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

In 2017 The Mobile Arts Council commissioned a mural and a historic marker was installed by the Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail of Mobile. The It Takes A Village mural and marker depicts diverse Mobilians who have walked among us, made great strides, but often go overlooked or unrecognized in our hometown. The stories of their significant and historic contributions to the country and the world are noted on the historic marker and their faces are illuminated on the wall. Major Gen. J. Gary Cooper is one of the three distinguished Mobilians so recognized on this mural and marker.

He was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2021. The Academy of Honor was created by the state of Alabama "to bestow honor and recognition upon living Alabamians for their outstanding accomplishments and service."

Gary is survived by his loving wife and three adult children; seven grandchildren and one beautiful great granddaughter; a brother and a sister; a special nephew and a host of other nieces and nephews, family, friends and lifelong friends.

Cooper's life story is told in the book, "Ten Stars: The African American Journey of Gary Cooper―Marine General, Diplomat, Businessman, and Politician" (2016)

Interment: Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Spanish Fort, Baldwin County, Alabama, USA. Arrangements: Christian Benevolent Funeral Home Inc., Mobile, Alabama.

Sources:

https://www.alabamaacademyofhonor.org/j-gary-cooper
Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail, Mobile, Alabama. https://www.dffaaht.org/
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/cooper-j-gary-1936/
https://www.military.com/history/first-african-american-lead-troops...
Obituary - https://www.christianbenevolent.com/obituary/major-cooper