We were very sorry to hear about the death of Rex Cooper OBE (OE1951-54) who had remained in contact with the school for many years and was a regular contributor to the alumni Facebook page. We corresponded with Rex for many years and greatly appreciated his long-term support with our fundraising efforts which included speaking on webinars and contributions to our annual Donor Impact Reports. As with many alumni, our communications were mainly by email, so we were delighted to see him in the flesh during an appearance on the 2018 Christmas edition of the BBC show Countryfile when Rex spoke about the power of music and the loss of his wife Patricia, after 55 years, to dementia the previous year.
Rex was born in Torquay and after a spell in local boarding schools was initially fast-tracked into Emanuel by Headmaster Cyril Broom as a Latin Scholar after his family relocated in London. He both rowed and sailed, representing the School at the Public-School Firefly Sailing Championships in 1953. In a successful school career, which he later described as “high quality education”, Rex also won prizes at Speech Day and was a member of the Sackville Club. Rex was a committed member of the Naval Section of the CCF. When he left Emanuel in 1954, he joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, retiring as Master of the Fleet in 1992 after a highly decorated career. In his 37 years in the Navy, Rex served in all classes of ship, and was involved in many of the major post-war campaigns and world events, from Suez to the 1990 Gulf War, as well as the complex ripple-effect of the Cold War.
In our correspondences, Rex always spoke fondly about his time at Emanuel and recalled Ben Shaw (Maths) and Leslie Corney (Classics) as two of his most influential teachers; the latter was responsible for him becoming a lifetime reader of The Spectator magazine. Like many alumni of his generation, he reminisced fondly about his time in the school CCF, and it clearly influenced his subsequent career on the water. Whilst still a teenager, and wondering what to do with his life, Rex was initially attracted to the Navy by an advert in The Portcullis, and 27 years later he himself featured in a similar advertisement (also in The Portcullis) detailing what the Navy had to offer youngsters.
Rex was made an OBE for his work in establishing the RFA Association and in recognition of a half century of service to the Royal Navy. Both he and his late wife, Patricia, were also keen members of a local choir.
Rex will be greatly missed by his friends and family and is a great loss to the wider Emanuel School community.
