By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Leona Cooper will be honored May 23 as the Rotary Club of Coral Gables' 2013 Citizen of the Year
Cooper, 80, is the mother of five and grandmother of six and a longtime resident of Coral Gables. Born in the Bahamas, she moved to Miami at age 14 and has lived in the city for most of her life. While raising her family, she worked as a microbiologist at Jackson and Mount Sinai hospitals, and from 1963 until her retirement, at the Miami VA Medical Center, where she was supervisor of Clinical Microbiology.
In 1986 she founded the St. Martin De Porres Association, a group committed to improving the status of African American Catholics. The organization works to assist the homeless and provide scholarships to African American students in Catholic schools. She also has worked tirelessly in defense of rights of Haitian immigrants. In 1987, she helped coordinate the visit of Pope John Paul II to Miami and was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Thomas University and a Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope John Paul II.
Cooper has been lauded by Coral Gables historian Arva Moore Parks as "the driving force" behind the preservation of the history and homesteads of Black Gables. "The deeper we got into the history of the MacFarlane Homestead, and the more we learned about the broader area," said Cooper, "the more I realized what was at stake wasn't just buildings, but the fabric of the community, our history, our living memory. And we felt passionately it was a history worth preserving."
In the early 1990s, the Coopers formed the Lola B. Walker Homeowners' Association and mobilized community support to save Black Gables. She also has been very active in Coral Gables community affairs for many years, including as a member of the founding board of the Coral Gables Community Foundation. In 1991, she was recognized as among "Coral Gables� Best� by Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli.
In 1999, Cooper was invested as a Lady in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. She was one of several Miami-Dade women honored for outstanding achievements by the Coalition for Women and the Historical Museum of Southern Florida during Women�s History Month; and she was honored as a Pioneer by the Miami-Dade County Parks & Recreation Department at its annual "In the Company of Women� recognition event.
Her board memberships include: Archdiocese of Miami�s Catholic Charities, Catholic Commission for Social Advocacy (chairperson); Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities USA; Miami-Dade County Health Policy Authority (vice chairman); Board of Trustees of Human Rights Institute, St. Thomas University; Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart; Camillus House; and the Miami Children�s Hospital.
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