About John N Cooper

John Cooper, or Coop, was born on 15 February 1946 in Anderston, Glasgow.  Sadly, John's dad died when he was 4, resulting in the newly single-parent family experiencing abject poverty and a difficult home life.  However, John loved growing up in Anderston and the many lifelong friends he made there.  

 

Notably, John attributes his character formation to various special adults.  This included his BB Officers, particularly his Captain, who modelled Christian values and manliness who helped influence and shape his young life.

 

John was well known for his strong work ethic, and at 12, he started contributing to the household income by delivering milk.  Anyone who has walked up the sharp incline streets of Glasgow city centre can imagine his challenge with a loaded milk crate; however, the downhill trips in his wheeled crate were more enjoyable, even more so when it snowed! 

 

John left school at 15 to start an apprenticeship as a Vehicle Technician before joining the old 'Glasgow Corpy' repairing and driving buses.  John then secured employment in Glasgow University's garage at age 25, swiftly rising the management ladder to become Head of Transport Services - until his retirement.  John was well-known and respected within the University and met many lifelong friends there.

 

John often relayed many fond memories of the annual BB Camp at Meigle as a boy, senior and eventual Officer himself.  Before John passed away, John and many of the original BB boys returned to visit Meigle to reminisce about their time spent during the summer months in their youth that was enjoyed by them all.  John was known to encourage the Boys Brigade to join him on different hill walks.  John had a common motivational phrase he would use to keep everyone moving onwards; "it's just over the next hill"......forgetting to mention that this possibly required another 5 mile walk!  It has become apparent that promises of ice cream shops or cafes was another effective strategy used by John to motivate his children!

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John particularly loved Scotland and relished walking the Scottish hills and countryside.  John thoroughly enjoyed Scotland and the beauty of this country he called home.