\t\t\tMarlene Kitay Cooper \t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tOBITUARY\t\t<\/p>\n
Marlene Kitay Cooper allowed her life to quietly leave her body at home on June 16, 2026 with her loving husband of 65 years, James, at her side.<\/p>\n
Marlene Kitay Cooper was born on November 22, 1942 to Irene Agnes and Herbert Kitay in New Rochelle, New York. Her family moved to Garden Grove, California as she started school, graduating from that High School in 1960. <\/p>\n
She met her husband, James Melvin Cooper, during her Junior year and they were married on October 29, 1960, just nine days before he \u201cshipped out to sea\u201d, beginning a 32-career with the United States Navy. <\/p>\n
That career took them back and forth several times from the East and West Coast, and James\u2019 career advanced from Enlisted to a Commissioned status. They enjoyed a tour in the Philippines where they toured extensively, and she also got a chance to visit Hong Kong and Macau before they returned stateside.<\/p>\n
Here again, they toured commands on both coasts, and then had a final military tour in Naples, Italy. There, she had the opportunity to visit Russia, Egypt, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom before James and she retired to Ramona, California in 1993.<\/p>\n
During all these travels, and long periods of separation while James was at sea, she demonstrated exceptional strength and determination; making a home for them and their two children. She was the pillar that stood strong during every move, every challenge, and every change in station while remaining The Lady that was her core.<\/p>\n
After James\u2019 retirement from uniform, she stepped up to hold down the homestead, while he ventured into the world of Cowboy Reenacting, then Mountain Man Rendezvous touring, then SASS shooting, then leathercrafting; always ever the steady hand who opened the door with a smile and a kiss when he returned.<\/p>\n
She found joy in life\u2019s simple pleasures, tending her garden, hunting for antique treasures, open-road adventures and sharing life with her loyal cocker spaniels.<\/p>\n
Marlene is survived by her ever-loving husband James, of Ramona, California; her devoted and loving daughter Jamie Hill, grandson Michael Hill, and granddaughter Courtney Florendo, her son David Cooper and three grandsons, Bryan, Noah (USMC), and Dylan. She is survived by in-laws Carol and Mike Lowell, who provided compassionate, loving care. She is also survived by a host of loving siblings and relatives.<\/p>\n
Bonham Bros. & Stewart Mortuary and Cremation Service assisted the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marlene Kitay Cooper OBITUARY Marlene Kitay Cooper allowed her life to quietly leave her body at home on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-459235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}