Mary Anne Cooper is 104 and a treasure to residents of 105-year-old Port Moody, where she has been living and working for the past 33 years.
And thanks to a documentary that is about to be made, the whole world may soon learn about the wisdom and experience of Cooper, who going strong as an advocate for the health and welfare of her community.
When she’s not at home baking or entertaining visitors in her cute, pink house, Cooper is attending concerts at Evergreen Cultural Centre, visiting the Mossom Creek Hatchery, advocating for better transportation for those with mobility challenges or attending PoMo council meetings to promote the revitalization of Ioco Townsite, her pet project for over a decade.
Now, as Cooper steps into the limelight as the subject of a documentary — the working title is The Mary Anne Cooper Way — the centenarian shares some of the secrets of her remarkable health and longevity.
But first she has to be cajoled into talking about herself.
While Cooper told The Tri-City News she’s nothing special — and while many would beg to differ — the film project will be as much about PoMo, and the importance of older people being active and involved in community life, as it is about her.
Born in Ohio on Oct. 30, 1914, just as the First World War locked the world in the grip of battle, Cooper lived through the Depression. Her family lived on just $14 a week her brother earned as a grocery clerk, so she knows the value of a dime.
Then, in 1936, as the winds of the Second World War began to blow, Cooper married fellow university student William Buell Cooper and raised three children.
Along the way, Cooper earned a PhD in environmental education and worked for the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the environmental branch.
Today, as she looks back on her accomplishments, including moving to Port Moody in 1986 and continuing to be an active citizen, Cooper says she has always stayed true to herself, pursued learning and taking on projects.
“My principles are what’s important, my accomplishments are minor,” said Cooper during a conversation over tea and date squares she baked for guests, filmmaker Evan Wunderman and film promoter Ruth Foster.
To find out more about the documentary, a website has been set up and a fundraising dinner planned Saturday, April 27 at The Club, 101 Noons Creek Dr., Port Moody. (Tickets, $104 with a $60 tax receipt) can be purchased at the finance counter at Port Moody city hall).
There is also a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the project.
For Cooper, working on projects is key to a long life.
Her most recent project, seeing the Ioco Townsite brought to life as a community, sport and cultural centre, is something she dearly wishes to see over the next few years as PoMo council wrangles over the future of the area.
“This project that I have been following for so many years concerns me,” she says. "The environmental assets were recognized by council many years ago. They agreed not to demolish it but preserve it as a heritage site.”
The next step, she says, is for council to work with the property owner, Brilliant Circle Group, on enhancing the Ioco Townsite and making it livable.
As for why Cooper remains busy in Port Moody life, she is unequivocal: “To me, projects are very important because they help encourage discovery and the acknowledgment that the world is wonderful.”
Retirement to a “comfortable state of existence” is not Cooper’s way and the number of birthdays one checks off is not important, she says.
“Each day has been an important day for me and the projects are an important part of that.”
Cooper also has a strict daily regimen of exercise, walking in a circle through her house 45 times, pushing her walker.
“I consider it a necessity. There's an age-old adage saying that if you don't use it, you lose it, and that is very serious, no second chance. It is very important — it is as important as meals to keep these muscles going.”
Still, while Cooper may not think she’s worth making a fuss over, Wunderman, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, begs to differ. She says it’s important for people to see someone older continue to be active in the community.
“I am honoured to be asked to do this project,” Wunderman said.
Foster, a retired teacher and one of the founders of the Mossom Creek Hatchery, who is fundraising for the film, said she thought someone should take on the task of telling Cooper’s story and decided to do it herself, envisioning the documentary as an homage to her friend and environmental ally.
The film’s promoters have a big goal to raise $90,000 for the theatre-quality documentary but, by Cooper’s standards, everyone needs a project and this is just one more.
