RITA C. COOPER, 70, of 1309 Hawthorne St, Eau Claire, died Sunday, March 18, 2001 at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. She was born on November 26, 1930 in Eau Claire to Leo and Helen (Misura) Shepler. She graduated from St. Patrick's Catholic High School with the class of 1949.\r\nRita married John O. Cooper at St. James the Greater Catholic Church in Eau Claire, on November 4, 1950. \r\nSurvivors include her son, Greg (Patricia) Cooper of Lexington, VA; two daughters, Chris (John) Courneya of Blaine, MN, and Anne (Robert) Saatela of Richfield, MN; four grandchildren, Jesse and Johanna Cooper and Elizabeth and Emily Saatela; a sister, Jaclyn Bailey of St. Paul, MN; a brother, William (Jacqueline) Shepler of Racine; a sister-in-law, Helen (Ralph) Ely of Altoona, and many nieces and nephews.\r\nShe was preceded in death by her husband, John; her parents; and a grandson, Keith Saatela.\r\nFuneral Services will be at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 22, 2001 at St. James the Greater Catholic Church with Father Edmund Klimek officiating. Burial will be in Rest Haven Gardens Cemetery in the Town of Washington. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Lenmark-Gomsrud-Linn Funeral Home and an hour prior to services Thursday at the church. There will be a Public Prayer Service 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

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