Julia Margaret Cooper, 74, of Richardson, Texas, passed away on August 30, 2023 with her family by her side after a valiant effort to fight off Covid pneumonia. Julia was born on October 2, 1948 to Kate and Richard Poate in London, England. She trained at Kings College Hospital in London. As a young nurse, she and three friends responded to an advertisement in the London newspaper seeking nurses in Dallas, Texas for a one year rotation at Methodist Hospital. Over 50 years later, she was still going strong and planning her next safari trip to Africa. In 1970, Julia met Arthur Cooper at a party in Dallas. Married for over 50 years, Julia and Art went on to have three children, Rebecca, Mark and Sean. In 2014, Julia retired from nursing and spent her time traveling to many places in the US and abroad. Julia served communion frequently at her church, St. Joseph's. Her curiosity led Julia to engage in conversation with everyone she met, much to her children's consternation. Julia had an affinity for all animals, especially dogs, elephants and birds. She could not walk past a dog without petting it and often took care of dogs for neighbors. She had a perpetual bird welfare station in her backyard, distributing a bag of bird seed each week. She made five trips to Africa hunting animals with her camera, especially elephants, and was a docent at the Dallas Zoo's elephant habitat in retirement. Julia was predeceased by son, Sean Cooper. She is survived by husband, Arthur Cooper, daughter Rebecca (Brad) Brown, son Mark (Kate) Cooper, grandchildren, Ryan, Owen, Josephine and Jesse; as well as sister, Susan (Eric) Friedlander. A Memorial/Celebration of Life is planned for October (details to follow). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to any organization that benefits animals, a cause Julia felt strongly about.

Arrangements under the direction of:

Aria Cremation Service and Funeral Home

19310 Preston Road

Dallas, Texas 75252

214-306-6700