Gene Coopwood

Dr. Gene Lewis Coopwood, longtime dentist of Shelby, Mississippi, died on Thursday, January 13, 2011 at University Medical Center in Jackson. He was 82 years old.
Dr. Coopwood was born in Glen Allen on February 27, 1928 and was the son of the late Frances Marion Coopwood and Lanita Graves Coopwood of Clarksdale.
Dr. Coopwood was raised in Clarksdale and was a football standout for the Clarksdale Wildcats in the early 1940s. After high school he joined the Marine Corps at the end of World War II and upon discharge held the rank of Corporal. While in the Marine Corps Dr. Coopwood held the weapons qualifications as sharpshooter. In 1948, Dr. Coopwood entered Mississippi State University on a football scholarship. In 1952 Dr. Coopwood earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Agriculture at Mississippi State. He then moved to Shelby where he worked for Shelby mayor Scott Morrison and businessman J.W. Thomas, running their farming operations around Shelby and Gunnison.
On November 28 of 1952, Dr. Coopwood married Ann Douglas Morrison of Shelby and they had four children: Betsy, Gabrielle (deceased), Scott, and Candy Coopwood.
After many years of farming, Dr. Coopwood decided to leave the farming profession and enter dental school. He attended Delta State for his pre-dental requisites and in 1966 graduated from the University of Tennessee Dental School in Memphis, returning to Shelby and practicing dentistry there for almost 40 years. Dr. Coopwood was a member of many civic and professional organizations including the Mississippi Dental Association, UT Dental Alumni Association, and he served as president of the Shelby Rotary Club in 1970-71. Dr. Coopwood was an avid hunter and fisherman.
In 1978, he married his high school sweetheart, the former Evie Pharr of Clarksdale and they were married until her death in 1994.
Dr. Coopwood leaves behind three children: daughter, Betsy Coopwood Carter of Gautier; son, Scott Coopwood (Cindy) of Cleveland and grandchildren Thomas, Jordan, and Travis; daughter Candy Miles (Michael) of Jupiter, Florida and grandchildren, Savannah, Olivia, Pearson, and Prescott; and two brothers: Frances Marion Coopwood, Jr. (Ruth) of Largo, Florida, and Tred Coopwood (Linda) of Birmingham, Alabama.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. at the First Bellview Baptist Church in Shelby on Sunday, January 16. Visitation will be from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. at the church. Burial will follow the funeral service at Shelby Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Bill Luckett, Dr. Bill Wilson, Pat Denton, Lee Burke, Dean Nassar, and J.W Magee. Honorary Pallbearers will be Dr. Victor Meena, Dr. Pat Burke, and Farley Salmon.
The family has requested any memorials be sent to the Dr. Gene L. Coopwood Dental Scholarship Fund at Delta State University, PO Box 3141, Cleveland, Mississippi 38733.

First Visitation

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Sunday, January 16, 2011
First Bellview Baptist Church 2nd Ave Shelby, Mississippi, United States

Service Information

2:00 pm Sunday, January 16, 2011
First Bellview Baptist Church 2nd Ave Shelby, Mississippi, United States

Interment Information

Shelby Cemetery Shelby Shelby, Mississippi, United States