Women of Note: Exercise and gardening keep Nancy Cooper grounded

by Judy Williams

Nancy (Wise) Cooper, a resident of the Gregory area since 1968, is known by gardeners all over the state for her beautiful daylily garden, but she is much more. She is a kind and bighearted person who works as a volunteer and has touched the lives of many students.

Growing up in Detroit during the 1950s, she attended Cass Technical High School. Cooper credits this for giving her many opportunities.

“It was wonderful growing up in Detroit. Every day during the summer, I would ride my bike to Belle Isle. I had places to swim and do gymnastics,” stated the athletic Cooper. “My high school offered sports for girls during a time when most schools didn’t. I was on the high school swim and dive teams.”

During high school, Cooper majored in science. At that time, Cass Tech required students to select a major. This led to a desire to become a doctor.

After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Michigan on a career path to be a doctor. While a college student, Cooper earned extra money working as a substitute teacher at Chelsea High School. One of Cooper’s teaching assignments was in the special education classroom. This was a major turning point in her life. Cooper discovered she loved teaching special needs children. This event changed the whole trajectory of her career plan. Cooper changed her major to teaching special education.

After graduating from the University of Michigan, she was hired by the Chelsea School District to teach special education. She taught for 32 years. During Cooper’s career, she started an independent living program for the special needs students. She considers this program her greatest accomplishment.

“I felt teaching independent living skills was a way to really make a difference in a student’s life,” Cooper said. “My goal was to make sure each of my students graduated with all of the skills they would need to live a successful, independent life. I loved going to work each day.”

Cooper was active with the Special Olympics program from its start in the ’70s. In the early years of the program, she served as the director for Monroe, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. Later, she limited her focus to Washtenaw County. Her duties included coaching, running tournaments, and fundraising.

The active Cooper has coached gymnastics, swimming, bowling, basketball, floor hockey, soccer, track and field, cross country, and volleyball. During the summer months, she coached a unified softball team. (A unified team is made up of special needs and regular students.)

Cooper met her husband of 42 years, Douglas, at a state Special Olympics competition. He was judging the gymnastics competition. Douglas taught special needs students for the Washtenaw County Intermediate School District.

Not surprisingly, Cooper throws herself into her hobbies 100 percent. Cooper’s daylily garden, Serenity Gardens, was chosen by the Great Lakes Daylily Society to be the featured garden at one of its conferences. She came by her green thumb from her mother, who had a rose and vegetable garden in Detroit.

“As a kid, I had no interest in gardening,” explained Cooper. “Later, I started growing a few flowers. At first, I kept my garden on the small side because of work, but after I retired in 2002, I threw myself into growing my garden.”

Now, gardening has become Cooper’s passion. Her garden is made up of about 850 varieties of daylilies of every shape and size, 400 varieties of hostas, and 60 ornamental grasses. Add a few annuals such as Mexican sunflowers, castor beans, and zinnias and Cooper’s garden is bursting with magnificent color. To complete the picture, she has added statues and a copious amount of yard art. Cooper’s garden has become a popular place to tour during the daylily season. Last year, she gave 15 group tours.

“Many of my unusual pieces of yard art are repurposed items from the Kiwanis Thrift Sale in Ann Arbor,” Cooper laughingly stated. “My husband used to refer to my garden art as “garden junk.”

Frequently, you will find Cooper volunteering at the Kiwanis Thrift Sale. She favors the store because the money raised goes to charities for kids.

A special treasure in Cooper’s garden is a giant bottle tree in memory of a dear friend and neighbor. The bottle tree is composed of 81 blue wine bottles saved by Cooper from special moments of occasional drinks shared during the last years of a dear friend’s life. Her friend suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a fatal disease of the nervous system that weakens muscles and impacts physical function.

Cooper’s words of wisdom center around exercise and gardening. Every morning, seven days a week, you will find Cooper either biking, swimming, running, lifting weights, or walking for one hour.

Exercise will keep your mind balanced, she said, and a garden provides you with a place for calm and peace.

Nancy Cooper standing by the Nancy Cooper daylily, named in Cooper’s honor. Photo by Paula Kay

Nancy Cooper’s Serenity Gardens was featured at a Great Lakes Daylily Society conference. Photo by Judy Williams

Glass lamp shades add color to one of Cooper’s shade gardens. Photo by Judy Williams

The star of the garden is a daylily named after Cooper. The red daylily with a yellow ruffle was propagated by John Kulpa of Daylily Hybridizing. Photo by Judy Williams

This tree in Serenity Gardens is made from 81 blue wine bottles, each representing special moments shared during the last years of a good friend’s life. Photo by Judy Williams