Cameron Daniel Cooper of Senlac, SK, aged 40, died June 30, 2011 when the airplane in which he, his brother Wade, and three others were passengers crashed while attempting to leave their fishing camp at Buss Lake in northern Saskatchewan.

Cam was the fourth child of Jim and Sharon Cooper, born and raised on a farm in Senlac, SK, part of a close-knit extended family. He attended Grades 1-9 in Senlac and finished high school in Unity, SK. As a boy, he spent many happy hours shooting gophers, wrestling on the trampoline, showing 4-H calves, swimming and camping at Gravel Lake with family and friends. He loved working with horses, a trait he shared with his father, grandfather and great-grandfathers before him.

His interest in horses led him to take a year of animal science at Lakeland College in Vermilion, where he discovered a passion for riding broncs. He hit the rodeo circuit hard and won a scholarship to the College of Southern Idaho. Cam competed in the saddle bronc event for several years, travelling to rodeos all over Canada and the US. One of the highlights of his career was bringing home the bronze when he won the Novice Saddle Bronc event at the Calgary Stampede in 1991, but what he valued more than any prize were the friends he made along the way, the stories told to pass the time on long drives between rodeos, the jokes shared on the road. Eventually he stopped riding broncs and moved on to raising a bucking horse herd of his own in the hills north of Senlac.

Cam tried his hand at a number of jobs, cutting timber in BC, working as a cowboy near Milk River, running his own fencing business and laying pipeline. In recent years, he worked his way up to the position of Pipeline Construction Consultant, first for Compton Petroleum near Blackie, AB, then for Trilogy Energy in Fox Creek, AB. On his days off, he worked with his parents on the Cooper family ranch and spent time with his wife, Glenice and their three children, Maggy (12), Ruben (9) and Sandy (5).

His family was his pride and joy, the most important thing in his life. He loved reading to his daughter, Maggy, hunting with his son, Ruben, and watching John Wayne movies with Sandy. Though Cam was known to say “Let’s rip, tear and pull hair,” he could also be a serious and solitary man. Glenice made him laugh and kept him connected to their community when work took him away for weeks at a time. The two of them created a home that welcomed friends and family for birthdays, holidays, or no occasion at all. Cam acted as an older brother to Glenice’s siblings, joining them on fishing trips, offering advice, whether asked for or not, on boyfriends, girlfriends and life in general. Cam loved to see new country and Glenice shared that with him; they travelled together through Canada, the US and Scotland. Several years ago, when they were busy with a young family themselves, neither hesitated to offer Cam’s help when he joined his brother-in-law on a trip to China to bring his adopted niece home. These are the things that family histories are made of, and Cam understood that telling these stories reminds people of the good times they enjoyed and the hard times they survived.

Cam always joked that the man with the most horses, pipe and land always wins. Wherever he is now, he is not far away. He’s in the wind that blows through the silver willow and in the hoof beats of a herd of bucking horses. His voice is present in the stories we tell and in the echo of our laughter. He lives on in the faces of his beautiful children and in the hearts of those who love him.

Left behind to remember his strong opinions on almost any topic are his wife Glenice (Wagner) and their beautiful children, Maggy, Ruben and Sandy of Senlac, SK; parents Jim and Sharon (Mills) of Senlac, SK; sister Kelly Cooper and husband Hugh O’Neill and their children Casey and Anika of Belleisle Creek, NB; sister-in-law Nadine Cooper (Bryant) and children Bryn, Sam and Grace of Prince Albert, SK; brother Ash and wife Katrina (Marshall) and their son Jinks of Senlac, SK; mother and father-in-law Joe and Bev Wagner of Wilkie, SK; sister-in-law Melinda Wagner of Prince Albert, SK; brother-in-law Mike Wagner of Wilkie, SK and brother-in-law, Mark Wagner of Lethbridge, AB.

Cam was predeceased by his sister Connie and joined in his passing by his brother Wade. He is lovingly remembered by uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends.

Memorial donations can be made to the Cam Cooper Children’s Trust or the Wade Cooper Children’s Trust, Unity Credit Union, Box 370, Unity SK, S0K 4L0.

• Date : 2011-06-30 06:00:00