Theresa Anne Bowden Cope was born on August 13, 1951 to Travis and Jewel Bowden. She grew up in Linden, TX in which after graduation she married her high school sweetheart, Ronald Cope. After high school graduation, she and Ronald began their life in Nacogdoches TX where they both attended Stephen F. Austin University. She received a degree in education which began a new chapter in her life once she moved to Texarkana, TX and taught all of her 31 years at Liberty Eylau Middle School from 1972 to 2003. She rarely went anywhere where a former student did not recognize her and seek her out. During her tenure at LE, she taught 7th and 8th grade Reading. She touched numerous lives, in which most of them continued to faithfully stay in touch with her including the past few years as she fought cancer. She loved her students and teaching was not just a mere job, but it was her life and career which she felt the impact from her students achievements.
On July 7, 1977, she gave birth to her son Jason and was not only a mother figure to him but his best friend in which they shared so many memories and so much love that it will live on with him the rest of his life. Then after many years, she basically adopted another son, Eric, (her “bonus” son) who also shared in the love and warmth she gave, and whose life now is so enriched from all she had to give and share. Her absolute favorite moments were spent having a lot of wonderful times with her sons doing many things. She was an avid collector of many things including “Gone with the Wind” memorabilia, and always felt she had a little “Scarlett O’Hara” in her. She also was a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan in which she went to many games, and watched every one that she could not attend on TV or radio. She had a huge collection of OU (Oklahoma Sooners) collectibles in which many items were signed by the coaches and players that she met. She collected every piece of Cape Cod dinnerware as well as Desert Rose Pottery, carnival glass, and statues. She absolutely loved Kris Kristofferson’s music and movies. One of her lifelong wishes was to see him in concert, meet him, and have her picture taken with him. That wish came true on June 21, 2014, and he was so very nice to her and spent a while talking to her. One of her favorite places to visit was Beavers Bend in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. She often referred to this place as one of the most beautiful and peaceful places she’d ever seen.
In January 2012, she began a fierce and courageous battle with breast cancer that later metastasized to her bones and other organs. She was determined in every way not to let it get her down and worked so hard to fight it every step of the way giving inspiration to others going through the same thing and to make people aware that you can still look your best and do your best and not to give in until there is nothing more that can be done. In recent years, she won five trophies, three of them first place in her age category and even second place overall out of over seven thousand people at the Susan G. Komen Texarkana Race For The Cure, which gave many admiration knowing what she was battling.
She always said “Get up, get dressed, and get out” which was a motto she lived by her whole life, especially during cancer battle. Another motto was “When life gets you down, pick yourself up and dust yourself off.” To describe her in one word is hard. She loved life and lived it to the fullest. She was and is a hero, a fighter, a survivor, an inspiration to everyone that had the privilege of knowing her, and no one will ever forget that beautiful smile.
Left to cherish her memories are her husband of 48 years, Ronald Cope of Texarkana, TX; her two sons, Jason Cope and Eric Martin of Texarkana, TX; Her sister and brother-in-law, Dr. Marsha and Tom Savage of Manteca, Ca; Her brother-in-law and wife, Scott and Tammy Cope of Texarkana, TX; mother-in law Laverne Cope. Preceded in death were her parents Travis and Jewel Bowden, special aunt Mattie Mae Bender, and a special uncle Harold Craver.
In lieu of flowers, please make contributions in her honor to Metastatic Breast Cancer Research at http://www.metavivor.org/
A celebration of Theresa’s life will be 10:00 A. M. Saturday, September 30, 2017 at Chapelwood Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Bruce Hargrave and Bruce Martin officiating. The family will visit with friends following the service.