Thomas Clifton Cosper,'s Obituary
Thomas Clifton Cosper, Jr., aka “Kingfish”, passed away at home on December 8th, 2018. Tom is survived by his wife of 59 years, Marilyn Foley Cosper, daughter Kim C. Krecicki, son in law Mark Krecicki, their children; Kyle, and Nikki, son Paul Cosper, daughter in law Lisa Cosper, their children; Shelby, Katie Beth, Madelyn and Nicholas, daughter Lynne Cosper-Lainis, her son, Harreson, brother John Cosper and sister in-law Carol, and brother David Cosper. He was preceded in death by his father, Thomas C. Cosper, Sr., mother Jeanette, sister Jean, brother James and daughter Donna Jean Cosper.
Tom was born on December 2nd, 1938 in South Beach Miami, Florida, where he developed a fondness for the outdoors and fishing that would remain constant throughout his life. Tom also enjoyed sports, including playing football for the Miami Edison Raiders. Tom also excelled academically in High School and was a valued member of the Key Club, graduating in the class of 1957. In 1959, while attending North Park College in Chicago, Tom married his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Marilyn. Their family started in 1960 with the arrival of a baby girl in April, with additional blessings arriving in 1962, 1964, and 1966.
In 1969, his employer Black & Decker promoted him to a corporate Sales position that relocated him and his young family of 6 to Chicago. Tom quickly advanced within the company and was promoted to a Marketing position in Baltimore, MD. While in his Marketing role, Tom made significant contributions within a product development team, whose achievements included the "Workmate”® work bench and the first cordless drill used on NASA’s Apollo 13 mission. Tom’s appetite for learning during this time guided him to John Hopkins University where he completed two semesters of business classes, as well as taught a couple of Marketing courses.
As a rising star in his field, opportunity came knocking once again, in 1975, with Homelite a Division of Textron in Jacksonville, Florida. Homelite would promote him two more times, resulting in relocations to Hackettstown, New Jersey in 1977, and Charlotte, NC in 1981. Tom later took a position with an Italian based tractor company, BCS Mosa, where he was General Manager of North American operations. With BCS, Tom enjoyed numerous trips to Europe and Italy, but his dream was moving back to his home state of Florida and opening his own business.
In 1992, Tom established Cosper Construction Management, Inc. in Clearwater, FL, specializing in custom homes and small commercial projects. Ever at his side, Marilyn handled the interior design piece, while his beloved brother Jim oversaw the day to day office operations. After 20 years of building multi-million dollar and award-winning custom homes, Tom decided to semi-retire and relocate to Denver, NC, where he and Marilyn would be close to family and friends.
Tom's personal hobbies included following football, baseball and basketball, fishing, hunting, shooting, gardening, wood working, traveling, reading and making memories with his family. Though he was not able to make one last hunting or fishing trip, we like to believe he is relaxed on a dock with a line in the water, a good book and cold beverage by his side, while watching a gorgeous sunset.
Tom left us and went to be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the morning of Saturday December 8th, 2018.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 16, 2018 at Webbs Chapel United Methodist Church in Denver, North Carolina (4640 Webbs Chapel Church Rd, Denver, NC 28037).
Memorials may be made to Webbs Chapel United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 116, Denver NC 28037, or to the charity of your choice.
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