Leona H. Cooper
Designated as the 2013
Rotary Citizen of the Year
This is the
first time that I have had the privilege of meeting Leona Cooper personally,
and it is an honor. I nominated her for Citizen
of the Year because I’ve had the opportunity to watch her in action many times over the years. She is amazing and formidable! She is passionate, committed and devoted to
whatever cause she undertakes.
Leona H. Cooper,
mother of five, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of one, is a lifelong
resident of Coral Gables.
Born
Leona Helen Ferguson on June 30, 1932 in Nassau, Bahamas, she moved to Miami in
1946, and has lived in the 200 block on Washington Drive, in Coral Gables ever
since.
A 1949 graduate of Booker T. Washington
High School, she received her certificate in Medical Technology from Doctors
Clinical Laboratories that same year, and began her career as a microbiologist,
working at Jackson, Mount Sinai, and, beginning in1963, the Miami VA Medical
Center, where she was Supervisor of Clinical Microbiology. She has also acted
as Black Employment Program Manager, VA EEO Investigator for the Southern
Region and coordinated the Brown Bag Seminars.
In 1986 she founded the St. Martin De
Porres Association, an organization of African American lay Catholics in Miami, committed to
improvement of the status of African American Catholics. The organization works
to assist the homeless and provide scholarships to African American students in
Catholic schools. She has worked
tirelessly in defense of rights of Haitian immigrants. In 1987 she coordinated the visit of Pope
John Paul II to Miami and was awarded an
honorary doctorate from St.
Thomas University
and a Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope John Paul II.
In the early 90’s, the Coopers formed the Lola B.
Walker Homeowners' Association and mobilized community support to save Black
Gables. Undaunted by indifference, they
kept pushing forward, learning the ropes of civic activism along the way. She has been very
active in Coral Gables
community affairs for many years. A
member of the founding board of the Coral Gables Community Foundation in 1991,
she was recognized as among “Coral
Gables’ Best” by Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli. She served on the City of Coral Gables Trial Board for two and one-half
terms
In 1999, she was invested as Lady Leona
H. Cooper in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. She was one of several Miami-Dade women
honored for outstanding achievements by the Coalition for Women and the
Historical Museum of Southern Florida during Women’s History Month. She was honored as a Pioneer by the
Miami-Dade County Parks & Recreation Department at its annual “In the
Company of Women” recognition event.
Her board memberships include: Archdiocese of Miami’s Catholic Charities,
Catholic Commission for Social Advocacy (Chairperson), Board of Trustees of
Catholic Charities USA, Miami-Dade County Health Policy Authority (Vice
Chairman), Board of Trustees of Human Rights Institute, St.
Thomas University, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Camillus
House and the Miami Children’s Hospital.
Ms. Cooper has been lauded
as, “the driving force” behind the preservation of the history and homesteads
of Black Gables. But I will let Arva Moore Parks, honorary Coral Gables Rotarian
and renown Gables Historian tell you about her friend, 2013 Coral Gables
Citizen of the Year Award recipient, Leona Cooper
Leona Cooper with George Reeves,
Vocational Service Chair 2012-13
Leona Cooper with Arva Moore Parks
and George Reeves
