Chris Puglia
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 28/02) - Loraine Frances Minish-Cooper touched the lives of everyone she met and that legacy will live on.

She died at home on August 15, 2002, after a long battle with breast cancer.

Kind hearted, a devoted wife and mother, hard working, and full of life and dignity are just some of the words used by those who knew her. A woman who not only faced life with dignity, but death as well.

"She was an extremely dignified and decent person," said husband, Don Cooper.

"She was a very strong-willed woman.

"She was a rock in every way imaginable. She bore her disease with great dignity and died the same way."

Minish-Cooper was always a very community-minded person. Involved in a host of organizations including the Yellowknife Choral Society, the Yellowknife Speed Skating Association and the NWT Law society, to name a few.

Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 1998 she continued to offer her support to those around her and became a key player in the NWT breast cancer support group.

Along with her husband, Don, she is survived by three daughters, Merrill, 18, Megan, 16, and Margot, 14.

Cooper said if his wife had any regrets he believed it was the fact she wouldn't be around for her daughters' future.

"She was a completely devoted mother...All she ever wanted was to see her daughters get married and have grandchildren."

Cooper says his wife set a great example for her children and those around her.

"She was kind, she would not tolerate gossip or putting down of any groups in society.

"She was very modest in nature and never sought the lime light. She had a passion for gardening and a love of simple things," said Cooper.

"I think her last life's lesson to her children was how to die with dignity."

Over 600 people attended Minish-Cooper's memorial, and Cooper says it was an example of how many people his wife touched in her life.

"I've been inundated with cards and e-mails that said 'even though I didn't know Loraine she inspired me,'" said Cooper.

A garden of hope has been planted in Minish-Cooper's honour. It is located next to city hall adjacent to the Frame Lake Trail.

The garden will serve as a legacy to Minish-Cooper's life and passion for gardening. The Yellowknife Community Foundation has set up a memorial fund to administer the garden.