Dorothy Cooper thought she had hit a milestone two years ago upon turning 100 years old. She was wrong.

Cooper recently celebrated her 102nd birthday with family members, friends, Meals on Wheels (MOW) volunteers and MOW Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Gair III.

Cooper has been a MOW recipient for the past six years. Volunteers from the MOW Maryvale Presbyterian Church site deliver her hot lunches and cold dinners Monday through Friday.

In 1908, Cooper (nee Zinn) was born in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. She had a brother and two sisters and was a middle child. The family has longevity in their genes as her brother passed away only two days before turning 102 years old.
“I’m the last one in the Zinn line,” said Cooper. “My family is still found in Stratford, but I’m the last one of the kids. Growing up I was considered a tomboy, I wasn’t afraid to get into things.”

In the 1920s, Cooper’s mother found an advertisement in their local paper looking for nurses to train at City Hospital, which is now ECMC, in Buffalo.

Cooper was around 27 years old when she made the trek to America single, carefree and by herself without her family in tow. She took up citizenship and has been here ever since, returning every now and then to visit her family in Canada.

She trained for three years to become a nurse. In 1931, Cooper graduated and became a nurse in the private sector, taking care of the wealthy in their homes.

A few years later she married, Robert, and the two had Patricia Ann Ball and Suzanne Stutz. Dorothy also has two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

While her children grew up Dorothy took a hiatus from nursing and focused on her family. In the late 1950s, Dorothy went back to nursing since there was still a demand for the profession.
“I was a registered nurse,” said Dorothy. “I wore the white cap with the black band.”

Dorothy retired in 1966 from the diagnostic clinic at what is now ECMC.

In addition to nursing, Dorothy also helped run the coffee shop named Rendezvous, located on Harlem Road between Cleveland and Wehrle Drive, in Cheektowaga, with her husband. She loved to cook and would assist in that aspect of the business.

“Up until a few years ago I would always take care of my own yard,” said Dorothy. “I was athletic. I taught my grandkids and kids things that were related to sports. Things were different than then they are now.”

e-mail: ngawel@metrowny.com.

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