John Raymond Cooper passed away on Friday, October 21, 2022 while under hospice care at Oak Park Nursing Home. He was 91 years old at the time of his death.

Cooper was born on January 2, 1931 in LaFayette, Alabama, to the late John Milton Cooper and Margaret Reed Frazier Cooper. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mary JoAn Cox Cooper; son Dr. John Reed Cooper and daughter-in-law Vickie Tatum Cooper, daughter Jan Cooper, grandson Justin Newman and granddaughter-in-law Danielle Newman, grandson Sean Cooper, and great grand children Adelynn Newman and Shepherd Newman.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, October 27 at 10:30 am at First Presbyterian Church of Auburn, Alabama. Reverend Kathy Wolf Reed will officiate.

Cooper grew up in LaFayette, Alabama, showing an early interest in mechanics, much to the chagrin of his mother, who complained of his penchant for taking clocks apart to learn how they worked. As an undergraduate at what was then Alabama Polytechnic Institute, he earned an undergraduate degree in Engineering. He then served in the United States Air Force in Biloxi, Mississippi; Columbus, Ohio; and Sacramento, California. While in Ohio he earned a Masters of Science degree in Physics at Ohio State University. After serving in the Air Force, he worked briefly in private industry in Cincinnati, Ohio. He returned to Alabama to pursue his interest in scientific research, first at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, and earning a doctorate in Physics at Auburn University. While writing his dissertation, Cooper assisted in the building of Auburn's linear accelerator and remained at AU to serve as the director of the Auburn University Leach Nuclear Science Center.

As his career progressed, Cooper's interest and skill in teaching physics to undergraduate and graduate students grew to dominate his work. He occasionally pursued additional consulting work, including participating in the design of a cleanup process for the Three Mile Island nuclear accident.

Cooper's interests included a lifelong love of reading, both fiction and non-fiction, in a wide range of topics. He was an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Auburn.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Presbyterian Community Ministry online at https://pcm-al.org or sent to Presbyterian Community Ministry, 143 East Thatch Avenue, Auburn, AL 36830.