Joy Ann Long Cooper lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on May 28, 2026. Joy was born on July 19, 1951, in Roswell, New Mexico to Anna Knowles Long and Clyde Lowell Long. She graduated from Roswell (NM) high school and attended New Mexico State University. Joy joined IBM as a secretary in 1985 and retired in 2011 as a project manager. Among Joy's great loves were her flowers, her embroidery machine, and everything about water. Joy spent hours in the Spring and Fall tending her flowering plants and responding to the compliments from passers-by. Her embroidery machine gave her hours of pleasure churning out specialty T-shirts for her grandson and the neighborhood children. Joy was a water person. She enjoyed boats, fishing, and, most of all, SCUBA diving. She had more than 700 dives at spots ranging from the Keys, various Caribbean islands, and especially her "go to" place, San Pedro, Belize. Joy never met a stranger, and her travels and outgoing personalty gave her the opportunity to have friends everywhere.
Joy and Bill met in 1986, and they were married in 1991 and relocated to Roswell. They shared their love of everything outdoors. Their retirement was a study of constant motion: diving, fishing, clay shooting, motorcycles, and the garden. She grew no moss. She was kind and thoughtful and relished her roll as a "third grandma" to the neighborhood children. She will be missed.
Joy is survived by her husband, William David Cooper of Roswell; her son, Nathan Underwood (Melissa) and much loved grandson, Ethan, of Lexington, KY; sister Carol Cooper, and brother Glen Long (Marcie), of Las Cruces, NM; and sister Meryl Kettler (Ron) of Austin, Texas. She also leaves a host of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents and another brother, Clyde Lowell Long, Jr. (Genny) of Roswell, NM.
A celebration of Joy's life will be held on July 8, 2026 at 12:00pm at Northside Chapel Funeral Directors. Joy's family will begin receiving friends at 11:00am. Interment will follow at 2:30pm at Georgia National Cemetery.
The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at the Accent Care hospice facility in Cumming for the compassionate care they provided Joy in her last days.
If anyone wishes to make a contribution in Joy's memory, please consider AccentCare Hospice in Cumming, GA or the Wounded Warrior Project.