Elsmore Beach Cooper:
CLASS OF 1944
Admiral Farragut AcademyClass of 1944
Pine beach, NJ
Elsmore Beach's Story
My dad, "Beach" Cooper passed away in January 2008 so i am writing this on his behalf..
Dad graduated from AFA in 1944. He had fond memories of being there and often talked about his time there. He gleefully told me a story of going on a tramp steamer while not yet 18 one summer without his mother's knowledge.
Dad went on to join the Merchant Marines and work for American President Line and he traveled the globe several times with the company. I know he was an officer with the company but don't know what rank he held. While in Singapore he met my mother through mutual friends. Mom was and English girl in the WRAC there. They married in London in 1954 and returned to New York to live. Dad continued with the Merchant Marines. In 1956 Dad and Mom made the decision to go west and moved to southern California. Dad had often come into port at Long Beach and really liked it there. They settled in Orange County. I remember Dad coming home from a trip to Asia, laden with toys for my brother and me and and fabric for my mother.
About 1960 Dad had an accident on board one of the APL ships. A heavy rope/ca...Expand for more
ble broke loose, wrapped around his leg and broke it. There was a lawsuit which my father won but it meant he could not return to work for APL. My father then chose another path; he went to school to study law and real estate. He began a second career in real estate as a title officer. In 1964 our family was transferred to Santa Barbara and then in 1969 we continued to move north, going up to San Francisco. Dad worked as a chief title officer for a couple of different SF Bay area companies and was highly respected.
Dad always loved the sea and said he had to live in "smelling" distance of it. Dad passed away quietly in January 2008 in Lafayette, CA. At his request there was no formal funeral service or memorial. His request was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered at sea. We honored that wish and through the Neptune society had a short service on board their boat. Dad's ashes were scattered almost under the Golden Gate bridge, near the Marin county side. Beach Cooper is survived by his four children; Alyson (me), Paul, Heather, and Dave. We live in WA state and the greater SF Bay Area of CA.
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