Hi Cousins, I haven't posted in quite a while, and there are still many wonders and marvels for which to give thanks, in spite of recent circumstances. After staying with us for six months while she underwent chemotherapy, my husband's mother and father had returned to their own home about 90 miles from here when she developed a high fever from what turned out to be a severe kidney infection, and the neighbors called us that they were taking her to the local emergency room. We arrived before she was actually taken to a room. That night, however, HE took a turn for the worse, from an 18 yr. struggle with emphysema, and after having to be put on oxygen back in Feb. On Sunday, Nov. 8, my husband and his sister decided to bring him back down here where better doctors and facilities were available for his condition. They arrived at the hospital with full trauma staff meeting them at the door, but he didn't make it. Winston "Pete" Cooper was b. June 26, 1920 in Cuero, DeWitt Co., TX the son of Monroe Cornelius and Emma(SCOGIN) COOPER. At the outset of World War II, he enlisted in the Army, and after basic training in Camp McCoy, LaCrosse, Wisconsin, embarked with Co. E, 9th Infantry Division, as it landed near Cherbourg, Normandy Beach, France, on "D-Day", June 6, 1944. He was awarded a Purple Heart Medal of Valor for injuries from scrapnel, and an inoperable bullet which lodged near his spine, and remained there throughout his life. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by an older brother, William "Monroe" Cooper, a former electrician from Cuero, and a son, Raymond Eugene Cooper, who was killed in the line of duty as a police officer in 1978. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, a daughter and three sons, and their families, including eleven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. He kept his sense of humor, even exchanging jokes he collected, or that I had copied for him from Email or online, with the nurses and staff of drs. he had seen the previor week. He also enjoyed hearing of my genalogical progress on his family. At the funeral, I introduced my mother, Hazel Bray, to one of his cousins, who had been adopted, and had just a fews years ago reunited with her birth mother. She looked at my mother with a startled expression and said ,"Hazel Bray??!! You heard, didn't you? that my birth mother's name was _private_ Bray?!!" I had not heard, and I guess she either didn't remember, or maybe never even had heard my maiden name. The Lord does move in mysterious ways. We plan to pick up the trail first chance we get. Meanwhile, I guess my mail system must have looked like Granny's attic, and she never got rid of anything either. When I got back it was down, i.e GONE. So all you nice people that had contacted me before, PLEASE write again. I am from Clarence W. BRAY, b. Aug. 24, 1918 Checotah, McIntosh Co., OK s/o James Edward BRAY, b. July 31, 1879, Barbourville, Knox Co., KY d. February 02, 1921, Devol, Cotton Co., OK m. Sophronia"Fronie" Belle (STEVENSON)MCCAIN. III. Gen.-Bryant Bray, b. abt. 1853 in Barbourville, Knox Co., KY m. Martha Jane HOWERTON April 07, 1876 in Barbourville. Other children:Will, Roy, and Pearl. This family moved to St. Joseph, Buchannan Co., MO ca 1880, but I have not been able to find the trail. IV-James BRAY, m. Mary "Winney" GOLDEN, d/o KY lawyer Stephen Golden. I have some more unverified group sheets on them, but haven't had a chance to follow up lately. I have both copies of THE BRAYS OF FISHER RIVER by Edna B. Reese, and the question is:????How does this Bryant(III) tie into the "Old Bryant"(or Buant, which she calls him, after probably trying to read illegible Br*i*ant), of Surry Co., NC???? Who were James'(IV) parents? Thanks for any Re-sends and replies, and Happy Hunting for lost ancestors instead of wild turkeys(unless you're into that sort of thing, too) Nancy Bray Cooper [email protected]