Minnie Cooper, longtime San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group, SCNG marketing and opinion staffer, dies at age 76

Minnie Cooper, a 29-year employee of the Southern California News Group, and a can-do, jack-of-all-trades staffer whose work and kindness touched co-workers and buoyed the group’s reader-engagement efforts, has died.

Cooper, 76, passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

“She was one of the kindest, loving persons that I know,” said Michael Leydet, her son. “She always put her little touch on everything that would make you remember her for a lifetime.”

It was a touch that left a mark — from communities across SCNG’s footprint, where for years in her marketing role she engaged with readers at local events, to organizing internal company functions, to simply being there for her family – always well-known for getting to places in her beloved car: an actual Mini Cooper.

At family gatherings, Leydet said everyone in the family looked forward to her arrival.

“She brought smiles to everyone’s faces,” he said.

Cooper grew up in Inglewood. As an adult, she later resided in Pasadena, West Covina and Glendora, before recently moving to the Inland Empire, said Leydet.

She started working for the San Gabriel Valley Newsgroup in 1997. For 23 years, she worked in marketing and advertising as public relations coordinator, managing community events and working on reader-engagement projects.

In 2020, she joined the Southern California News Group’s opinion team.

She most recently worked out of the company’s San Gabriel Valley newspaper offices in Monrovia. She sorted mail from readers, helped select and post letters to the editor and op-eds to the newspaper group’s opinion section. She handled numerous other administrative duties.

“I don’t think there’s ever been anyone so easy to work with,” wrote Larry Wilson, a member of SCNG’s editorial board, columnist and public editor of the Pasadena Star-News, who first met Cooper 25 years ago at the old San Gabriel Valley Tribune building in West Covina.

“In retrospect, what a treat she has been as a colleague, always chipper, eager to help to learn new things. No drama! I will miss Minnie so much,” he added.

It was a sentiment echoed across the group this week.

“Minnie was a wonderful, warm-hearted person who made the world better simply by being in it,” said Frank Pine, executive editor of the MediaNews Group, Bay Area News Group and Southern California News Group. “We will miss her dearly.”

Many recalled Cooper working behind the scenes planning staff parties and retirement celebrations at the news group. She was often seen staying late to decorate the various offices for Halloween and Christmas parties, putting her personal touch on the events, while serving food to hungry staffers with a smile the next day.

“She would work weeks in advance setting up the lobby, lunchroom, hallways creating a spooky, creepy and enjoyable atmosphere for the entire staff,” said Jenny Needham, a former employee.

Cooper got along with advertising, marketing and editorial staffers — itself an unusual feat in the world of media.

“I remember we would have parties (in the newsrooms) for Halloween and Christmas. She was always very nice to me and was such a sweet lady, plus she was hilarious,” said Ruby Gonzales, crime and public safety reporter.

Many would see Cooper working early in the morning and also on weekends to make sure the holiday lunches went off without a hitch. For one Halloween party at the Monrovia office, she put up mock bloody handprints and Gonzales asked where she got them. She always stored decorations for future use and knew where everything was in the offices.

“All those decorations were done by her,” said Grace Reaza, office administrator whose desk was next to Cooper’s. She remembers going shopping with her for food, decorations and office supplies at Costco. “She always knew where to find the big scissors,” Reaza said. “She was a hard worker and very resourceful.”

After those newsroom parties, her team would sit down for their own holiday lunch. “We would have so many laughs. Minnie was funny. When you interacted with her, she was super professional yet she had a goofy side to her,” Reaza said.

She remembered a time when Cooper broke into a funky dance. She’d often dress in denim jackets and wear several bangle bracelets around her wrists.

And, of course, there was the car with the same name, save the slight spelling difference in her first name.

“She was the only person who could walk into a Mini Cooper dealership and say, she was Minnie Cooper,” said Felix Rosales, who oversaw building maintenance and helped Cooper lug boxes and decorations for the parties.

She drove a succession of Mini Coopers. And when it was time to sign the paperwork to buy the car, she had to prove to the salesperson that was her actual name.

Cooper loved cars, said her son. He remembers her driving a 1972 Camaro to the movies or to the beach with him and his friends.

“That was her favorite car before the Mini Cooper,” Leydet remembered.

Rosales remembers her buying her latest Mini Cooper a few weeks ago. He said she liked the car’s pickup and enjoyed putting the pedal to the metal.

In her younger days, she would go off-roading and mudding in her Jeep at the designated off-roading area of Azusa Canyon and also out in Big Bear, Leydet said.

Reaza said there wasn’t anything her co-worker couldn’t do well. Gardening was a recent hobby.

“I gave her some plumeria roots and she was so excited,” Reaza remembered. “She later sent me pictures of her plumerias growing.”

Cooper is survived by her son, Michael, 40, and daughter, Stephanie Guthrie, 55, both from Glendora. Her other son, Geoff Tolle, died in 2021. She leaves behind three grandchildren: Kaylie, Mitch Jr. and Michael III, as well as two great-grandchildren: Chase and Tatum.

Services have not been planned.