Bert Lorne Joseph Cooper was born on Aug. 25, 1936 at the Notre Dame Hospital in North Battleford. Lorne was the sixth in a family of nine children and was raised in a single parent home. He received all of his elementary education at Notre Dame School except for the 1947-48 school year during which he attended St. Cyr School east of Meadow Lake. He took his high school at the Convent of the Child Jesus graduating from Grade 12 in 1955.
During his high school years, Lorne worked for the OK Economy Store. In 1956, Lorne got his first big break. He was hired by the News-Optimist as a sports editor. His column Scoop With Coop was a favourite with residents in North Battleford and area. In 1961, Lorne was promoted to news editor, a position he held until 1963. Lorne then left the newspaper business and accepted the position of news director with CJNB Radio, a post he held from 1963 to 1980. At this point, Lorne returned to the News-Optimist as news editor. Importantly, Lorne covered city council meetings for 34 years. As a testament to his astuteness, both city officials and citizens would often ask Lorne where and why certain decisions were made. Lorne remained with the News-Optimist until his retirement on June 6, 2003.
Lorne was an exceptionally accomplished individual. In the late 1950s and early '60, he was a member of the Boy Scouts Council. In the early '60s he served on the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce. In 1963, Lorne was a key organizer with the City of North Battleford's Golden Jubilee Committee.
Remarkably, from 1964 to 1992 he both chaired and operated the Beaver Baseball Radio Bingo. This was largely a family enterprise involving Lorne and his wife and children. During the years that the bingo was in operation, more than $155,000 was raised, most of which was used to help local baseball teams pay their expenses.
In 1971, Lorne also sat on both the Tourist Promotion of Provincial Homecoming Committee and the Canadian National Junior Baseball Committee. In addition, he was a member of the Beaver Baseball Association's executive for 15 years and served as its president from 1972 to 1973. To add to his list of accomplishments in the sport of baseball, Lorne chaired the 1974 Canadian Senior Baseball Tournament.
From 1981 to 1993, Lorne represented the News-Optimist on the Citizen of the Year Committee. The award is co-sponsored by the North Battleford Lions Club. He also sat on the Junior Citizen of the Year Committee co-sponsored by the Battlefords and District Co-operative Ltd.
Given Lorne's devotion to community service and volunteerism, it should be not surprising that he would be publicly recognized and honoured with many awards. Lorne's first award was likely the Reliability Award which he received from the Convent of the Child Jesus in 1955. In 1975, at the Beaver Lions Stadium, Lorne was honoured with "Lorne Cooper Day." In 1991, he was commended by the Red Cross for 100 blood donations. In 1998, Lorne was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame as a builder. Finally, Lorne was posthumously inducted into the Frontier Mall's Wall of Fame in 2004.
Lorne's journalistic accomplishments were accorded special recognition. In 1999, he was the recipient of the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspaper Association's Best Business Editorial award. In 1999, Lorne received the prestigious Rotary Integrity award. And, in 2003, Lorne was commended by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association for 25 years of service.
Lorne married Emily on Aug. 31, 1957. They were blessed with four sons, two daughters, two grandsons, six granddaughters, four great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter. Unfortunately, Lorne suffered a heart attack on Sept. 17, 2002. Sadly, Lorne passed away on July 3, 2003, less than a month after his retirement.
It would be difficult to match Lorne's record of community service and volunteerism. He was an outstanding individual. In addition, he was a historian and donated a large number of historical papers to the City of North Battleford Historic Archives. On the occasion of our city's centennial, we, its citizens are compelled to give a heartfelt "thank you" to an extraordinary citizen - Lorne Cooper.
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