A Tree for Betty Cooper

      At least once in a lifetime, everyone should have a Betty Cooper as a friend. She was an amazing person in so many ways, warm, friendly, intelligent, independent, determined, with a deep well of knowledge on all matters related to the natural world. She was also encyclopedic in her knowledge of Waterloo Region Nature, her favourite nature club, and there was hardly a fact she couldn't recall from memory, and if it didn't come immediately to mind she certainly knew where to find it!

     Miriam took the picture below when Betty took part in one of my walks in October 2020. It was approximately a 3.5km round trip along the Mill Race in St. Jacobs, on a decidedly cool October day.

     Betty was ninety-three years old.

     As a keen naturalist Betty loved all trees, but her special passion was reserved for oaks. So, it was entirely fitting that we decided to plant an Eastern White Oak (Quercus alba), at the rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, ON, to honour this lady who was as straight and as strong as an oak herself.

     Many of her friends gathered to take part in the ceremony.

     Along the way we all helped to set the tree in the ground and fill the hole.

     The shovel was passed from hand to hand.

     Soon, thanks mainly to the care and attention provided by Fraser and Jim, it looked just right.

     Larry and David replaced a rock in its original position, exactly as Betty would have wished.

     Jenna provided some water.

     And Betty's tree stood tall and straight, ready to flourish, majestic as only an oak can be, and a fitting reminder of our stalwart departed friend.

     Betty's two good friends, Elaine LaRonde and Mary Ann Vanden, delivered some touching remarks, far better than I could compose, and I urge you to read them here. 

Elaine

"I feel very honoured to be asked to pay tribute to our mutual friend Betty. Some of you had the privilege of knowing Betty far longer than I did. It wasn’t until I joined the board of KWFN that I really got to know Betty and discovered what an integral part of the club she was. She was the archivist, the historian, the librarian – it seemed that anything you wanted to know about the club’s history you could find out from Betty. Much later I discovered what an important force she had been throughout her 62 years as a member of the Naturalists.

As Mary Ann mentioned in Betty’s obituary in The Heron Betty and her husband, Fred, had been heavily involved in KWFN – almost from the beginning of the club. They both served on the board, published The Heron, volunteered on special projects like the Bluebird Project and the Peregrine Falcon Release Project. Betty’s fingers were in many pies – of the natural sort!

It wasn’t just Betty’s dedication to the club that brought us all here today. She demonstrated so many fine qualities in her every day life as well. I’m convinced that if you look up the meaning of the word “independence” in the dictionary, you would find Betty’s photo. I certainly became aware of her independent spirit when I began to drive with her to club meetings. While we were still meeting at Wing 404 she would inevitably have a heavy box of books or plants to take to the meeting. I would try to carry the box for her only to have her insist that it would be too heavy for me and she would refuse to release it until she reached the car. Considering that she was almost twenty years older than me, this was always a bit embarrassing!

Betty loved all aspects of our natural world but her special love was for gardening – especially native plants. I know she exchanged planted species with other plant lovers in KWFN and was always generous in sharing with others. I feel privileged to have some special plants in my yard which started as seedlings in Betty’s garden. Betty didn’t just share her plants with others, she also shared her wisdom and kindness too. When my husband died a few years ago, she walked with me and helped me see that life continues even after losing your life’s partner – a lesson that she had learned many years earlier when her beloved Fred had died.

Even in her nineties, Betty had a zest for life. She loved her home and her garden, her feline friend, “Puss”, her church life and her friends, her neighbours who really valued her and her friends from KWFN/WRN, which was such an important part of her life. When her family moved to BC and asked her to join them, Betty said, “No thanks” – her life was here. We were her family too! Even during COVID, and as her health deteriorated, she was always interested in knowing how other people were doing. She would have been thrilled to see her naturalist friends here today. And how appropriate to have this oak tree planted in her memory."

Mary Ann

Planting White Oak Ceremony at rare in Honour of Betty Cooper 

Fri. May 6, 2022

"To honour Betty Cooper, a decision was made to plant a tree. But what kind of tree? 

That was the question posed to Elaine and me.

Our response was immediate: an oak. Let me explain why.

The story begins in the late ‘90s. I was a teacher then, in Kitchener, at St. Bernadette School. 

I remember many times being outside on yard duty and noticing the line of trees along the back fence of the school playground. One tree, in particular, stood out to me. It was a tall, stately oak, just on the other side of the fence. In those rare moments when I didn’t have little kids tugging and swarming all around me, I would sometimes stop to admire that magnificent oak.

By the early 2000s:

- I was retired

- I’d joined the club

- I’d met Betty

- She invited me over to her home

And, as often happens the first time at someone’s home, she wanted to show me around. 

She first took me to her front garden there on Highland Rd. Many of you have seen it. 

Next, she led me to her back yard. She unlatched the gate, we stepped through and I just stopped in my tracks. 

“Betty, Betty – on the other side of your fence, that’s the school where I used to teach!” Well, she was pretty amazed at that.

“Ya,” I continued, “and, right along the fence, I remember, there was this really magnificent oak tree I used to admire.”

Betty turned, and pointed to the back corner of her garden. “Is that it?”

I recognized it immediately. “Ya, that’s it! That’s the one!”

We were both astonished at the coincidence.

Well, then, she couldn’t resist. She started telling me the story of that English Oak in her back yard.

Betty’s paternal grandfather, Rex Pierce, grew up in Dover, England. Then, as a young single man, he immigrated to Canada settling in London, ON. Soon after, he joined an English social club in London where, on one occasion, the Sherrif of Nottingham came to speak. The Sherrif brought acorns which he’d gathered from English Oaks growing in the royal gardens at Westminster Palace. These he distributed to attendees at this meeting. Rex Pierce made sure he got one, and planted it. 

Betty’s English Oak is a direct descendant of that original acorn. She considered it part of her family heritage.    

The sapling being planted today in Betty’s honour is a White Oak, not an English Oak. However, as a gardener and long time member of our club, Betty understood the importance of planting native trees. She’d be happy that an oak has been selected, and doubly happy to know that it is a native oak.

And, I’m quite confident that Betty’s hope and wish for this little White Oak sapling would be that it, too, should thrive and grow into a strong stately tree just as magnificent as the English Oak in her back yard."

     We'll miss you Betty, but we'll think of you as we nurture this tree in your memory. You can count on that!