The Cooper family has announced Josephine (Jo) Helen Cooper AM passed away peacefully at age 88, following a brief illness.
A highly respected philanthropist, the Cooper family matriarch dedicated much of her life to serving the community and her family.
Born in 1936 in Norwood, Jo married William (Bill) Cooper in 1955 at age 19. On their first date, Bill entered Jo into a beauty contest without her knowledge and remained immensely proud of her until his death in 2015.
Jo and Bill began married life on a dairy farm in Mount Compass, where Jo helped Bill break in the new cattle. At Mount Compass, Jo gave birth to her son Timothy and daughter Verity.
The family returned to Adelaide and Jo gave birth to two more children, Melanie and Matthew. Bill had commenced work
in the family brewery by then and would later become Managing Director, a position he held from 1977 to 2002.
A dedicated lifelong ambassador for the family company, she was affectionately known as “Mrs Jo” among Coopers Brewery’s employees and continued to attend staff Christmas dinners long after Bill’s passing.
Jo was involved with the Coopers Foundation, the Brewery’s charitable arm, since its inception in 2006 and served as its Patron from 2015. The Foundation has raised and donated more than $8.7 million to charities across Australia, with Jo and Bill personally donating well over $1 million.
Jo was also a benefactor of more than 100 charities including St John’s Youth Service, St John Anglican Church, the Neurosurgical Research Foundation, the Burnside Hospital Foundation, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Adelaide Festival Centre.
She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2023 for services to the philanthropic sector, and to the Anglican Church of Australia.
The Cooper family said until her passing, Jo enjoyed a Coopers Best Extra Stout every evening, and started each weekend by sharing a bottle of champagne with her daughters Verity and Melanie.
Jo is survived by her children Timothy, Verity and Melanie, 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In a statement the Cooper family wrote: “She said her family was her greatest joy. Jo will be sorely missed by all that knew her.”