He was born in Leicester, but loved Pembrokeshire. He qualified as an art teacher in 1944, but was called up and posted to Carew Aerodrome for flight crew training. After marrying in 1947, he returned and started his art teaching career at Pembroke Grammar School on the old Bush Street site in Pembroke Dock. He was always busy in and out of school. He built and painted sets for the school plays directed by his friend and colleague Stewart Shaw during the 1960s. His own acting began with the Penfro Players, and later continued with St Michael's amateur dramatic group. He was a founder member of Pembroke's Civic Trust Society, which energetically fought to prevent everything interesting from being obliterated from Pembroke in the 1960s. He taught at Pembroke Grammar School for its entire existence from the end of the war, through the move to Bush Hill, and after the creation of Pembroke Comprehensive School. He was liked and respected by his pupils, and a number of fine students left to read art and architecture at university.

He left Pembroke with his second wife, Sylvia, and helped to bring up her two children, Miranda and Martin, teaching in Coventry. Eventually they

moved to a thatched cottage in Rutland. After Sylvia died, he moved to Kent, and then back to the county he loved, Pembrokeshire. He took an active part in the Pembroke Arts Club and Civic Trust, and renewed old friendships. He visitedmany countries with his friend Norma Shaw, along with sketch books and paints. Wherever he travelled he drew, and covered his sketch books with copious notes for his paintings. He was always experimenting with different subjects, styles and media - from landscapes to figure paintings, using oils, watercolour and acrylic. In recent years he had a number of successful exhibitions at the Tenby Art Gallery.

Norma was with him when he died. He leaves three children, Helen, David and Ian, and grandchildren Sian, Michael and Gareth, Daryl and Rhys, and Matthew and Kate. Donations in his memory for St Michael's Church, Pembroke, may be sent to the Ken Cooper memorial fund, at John Roberts and Sons funeral directors, 51 Bush Street, Pembroke Dock SA72 6AN.