A Life, a Vote, Both Cherished A Voter’s Last Wish Debbie Cooper Wanted to Cast Her Ballot, and She Did Jay Cooper For the Valley News Voting. What is voting to you? Sacred duty? Right? Option? Privilege? Obligation? Off-year election pain in the neck on a cold day? It is, of course, all of these things to different people. But this is what it meant to one person 10 years ago. My late wife, Deborah Jones Cooper, was dying as the 2004 presidential election approached. Over seven years, Debbie had battled breast cancer, then leukemia, and finally liver and bone cancer. She knew she had lost her final battle and had terminated treatment. Her beloved Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years so, with that out of the way, Debbie’s final wish was to leave DHMC and die at our home in Lebanon. She was so ill it seemed unlikely she could leave the medical center, but we were able to bring her home on Monday, Nov. 1. Election Day was Nov. 2. As soon as we moved her into our bedroom she told me, “Now I need to vote.” Physically that was impossible, so I went to City Hall in Lebanon to try to get an absentee ballot. The wonderful people at City Hall, who would have done anything for Debbie, told me that, regrettably, it was too late. I said I understood and that Debbie would, too, thanked them and went home. “Well,” Debbie said, “tomorrow you’ll just have to take the oxygen tank, put me in the wheelchair and we’ll go vote.” That was never going to happen, but it was so important to her that I just said, “Sure, we’ll see.” Unbeknownst to me, shortly after I left City Hall, a group of wonderful people (Sandi Allard, now the city clerk; Terri Dudley, longtime city councilor; the Secretary of State’s office; and many others, at their busiest time — Election Day eve — kicked into action. Next morning our friend and newly-deputized neighbor, Denise MacLeod, appeared at our doorstep with a ballot for Debbie. Denise said she had to witness the voting, so we went up to the bedroom. Debbie was very weak. She could no longer read and I had to mark the ballot for her. Debbie almost always voted a straight Democratic ticket and if there was ever a time to do something the easy way, this was it. “No,” Debbie said, “I want to hear all the candidates’ names.” So, office by office, candidate by candidate, (as Denise wept quietly at the edge of the room) I read each name to her. Debbie had trouble remembering the names and many had to be repeated before I could mark the ballot. Sometimes she would ask, “Which one is the Democrat?” We finally finished and Denise took the ballot off to be counted. (Bless her for being willing to go through this for us.) Debbie died about 11 hours later, but she had voted. She never knew the election results. Three days later, the Valley News printed a front page story about “Ms. Lebanon” voting during her last hours. Debbie was many things: wife, mother and generous friend. She was the first female, and the youngest, New Hampshire deputy attorney general. She was a skilled, respected attorney, serving the New Hampshire Bar in many important capacities. She was fiercely loyal to her beloved hometown, Lebanon, active at Sacred Heart Church and in her community in meaningful ways. And, equal with all of these things, she was proud to be a New Hampshire and American citizen. Debbie knew more about politics and government than any non-politician I’ve ever known. Her grandfather, Fred Jones, was speaker of the New Hampshire House. Her father, Bob Jones, was Grafton County judge of probate for decades. Debbie testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of her friend, Justice David Souter. She served in the Attorney General’s Office under governors as varied as Mel Thomson, Hugh Gallen and John Sununu. At one time or another, she appeared before practically every court in New Hampshire and many federal courts. She knew very well the faults and failures of politics and politicians. But after 30 years of experience, this knowledge only deepened her respect for the people, institutions and processes. She believed that the majority of politicians are dedicated public servants and that our form of government — slow, frustrating and open to abuse as it is — is a model to the world of fairness, inclusiveness and sacred individual rights. And she felt strongly that a citizen’s key to all these blessings is the right to vote. Debbie, on her last day on Earth after only 52 years, was in great pain. She was surrounded by her husband, her children, Tom and Liz, and many friends. She was back in her own bedroom, as she wished so much to be. She knew she had only a few hours left and she accepted, even embraced, her death. But there was one last thing she was determined to do — vote. So, when you are deciding whether it’s worth the effort to vote in an off-year election when you are tired of political ads and disappointed with your ballot choices, please remember what voting meant 10 years ago to one person — “Ms. Lebanon” — on the day she died. Jay Cooper is an attorney in Boulder, Colo.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 19:49:57 +0000
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