Obituary: Bill Cooper

The death of William T (Bill) Cooper at the age of 82 on 11 November 2015 after a long illness is noted with sincere regret. Bill, the father of current Managing Director Dr Tim Cooper, joined the family-owned Coopers brewery in 1960 and was responsible for Marketing and Sales from 1965 to 1985, and, in addition, became Director and Secretary in 1969. He was appointed Managing Director in 1977, a position he held until retiring in January 2002, and remained a Director until 2009 when he was replaced by his daughter, Melanie, who became the first woman on Coopers’ board.

Bill championed the expansion of sales from South Australia to other states in the 1980s, during a period when many smaller breweries disappeared. With the assistance of his cousin Maxwell and others, he steered the company through challenging times, helping to set it up for the significant success it has enjoyed in the past 20 years. He was at the helm when the company moved its operations from Leabrook – a leafy eastern suburb of Adelaide – to a virtual green-field site at Regency Park, a move which helped ensure its future.

After an earlier private funeral, Bill’s life was celebrated by his family and many of his friends and colleagues at an informal function at the brewery on 25 November 2015.