Funeral services for Eleanor Gwen Cooper, 81, of Benoit will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 21, 2023 at Benoit Union Church. She died Saturday, January 14, 2023. Arrangements are under the direction of Boone Funeral Home, Greenville.
Gwen was born to Southern Baptist Missionaries, Deaver and Dorothy Dodd Lawton on February 28, 1941 in Dallas, Texas. Her parents had been in China doing missionary work and her father was interned by the Japanese. Her mother had returned to the states, at which time Gwen was born. Once her father was released her mother and Gwen were reunited with him in China.
Gwen went to the International School of Bangkok from which she graduated. She returned to the States to go to college. She graduated from Texas Christian College in Forth Worth and then went to Southwestern Seminary where she received her Master’s in Christian Education. She taught at North Greenville Junior College in Tigerville, SC. Gwen later moved to Nashville, TN to work on her master’s at Vanderbilt University.
Gwen met her husband Floyd in Nashville and he asked her to marry him on July 4, 1969. They married on December 27, 1969 at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. They were married for 52 years.
She is preceded in death by her parents and sister, Carol Lawton. She is survived by her husband Floyd Cooper of Benoit, MS and brother, Dan Lawton (Diane) of Gainsville, GA.
There will be a visitation from 10:00-11:00 a.m. on Saturday prior to the services at the church.