Daryl Cooper, 71

Daryl Vernon Cooper

April 27, 1953-October 19, 2024

Daryl passed away in Dillon on Oct. 19, 2024, with his sweetheart by his side. Daryl was known for his outgoing, loving and caring nature for not only his family and friends but his animals too.

Born in Billings on April 27, 1953, to Raymond Cooper and Aliene (Cellmer) Cooper, he was the oldest of six kids. The family moved from Acton, a one-room schoolhouse, to Ronan in 1961. Growing up on the family ranch in the Rocky Butte area, Daryl learned the ins and outs of ranch life.

Daryl graduated from Ronan High School, class of 1971. Shortly after graduation he attended the Vo-Tech in Missoula, where he got his pilot's license. He then started crop dusting in Eastern Montana and found his love for flying.

In the late ’70s he moved to Ronan and started his own crop-dusting business called DB Cooper Flight Enterprises. Flying a Cessna AgTruck, Daryl was a confident pilot and not afraid to fly under power and telephone lines to get a good application. He would say it's easier to fly under them than to fly over them. 

There are many stories of him having grass stains on the tires of his airplane from flying so low, or him getting mad because the potato leaves were clogging his spray nozzles so he would have to land and pick them out. There was an article in an Eastern Montana newspaper about Daryl flying under a bridge applying coal on the river to break up the ice.

But he was not always lucky. He once hit a wire and put a hole in his plane and at a separate time the crankshaft in his engine broke and caused him to crash around St. Ignatius.

In the late 1980s, shortly after his crash, he sold his spraying business and moved on to co-pilot the big-boy planes. Daryl was a proud air tanker co-pilot for Arrow Union flying a P3 Orion and a DC4 (slurry bombers as he called them), dumping retardant on forest fires. He was stationed all over the United States fighting forest fires by doing what he loved to do, flying.

In 1979 Daryl married Connie Kruse. He adopted her two sons, Billy Joe and Leroy James, and in 1981 their daughter, Raylene Fon, was born. They divorced in 1988.

In 1991 Daryl married Mary Robinson and their daughter, Caitlyn Jennifer, was born in 1993. Even though their marriage did not last, Daryl and Mary remained close friends.

When it was time to retire his pilot's license, Daryl settled down in Dillon, where he said the sun shines every day. Dillon was his home for more than 30 years.

In 2011 Daryl met his “special lady” Mary Rogers. Daryl and Mary loved each other dearly. They were always up to something, whether it was restoring other people's “junk,” going camping, attending concerts, rodeos or aircraft shows, or just traveling.

A quintessential scene for Daryl was watching football on a Sunday afternoon wearing fitted Wrangler jeans and his cowboy boots with his loyal dog by his side. Oftentimes he would be yelling at the Dallas Cowboys on TV (Man, he loved those Cowboys). He was an avid outdoorsman and one of his favorite pastimes was hunting with his brother, Randy.

He was a cowboy and just enjoyed being on horseback, whether it be hunting, pulling kids on sleds in the winter, or just going for a ride. Daryl will truly be missed by all who knew him.

Daryl is survived by his “girl Friday,” Mary Rogers; siblings Lynn (Marilyn) Cooper of Polson, Randy Cooper of Helena, Sheri (Mike) Lien of Ronan, Shawn Cooper of Helena and Jackie Lowe of Sedona, Ariz.; his children, BJ Cooper of Helena, Leroy (Cassie) Cooper of Winston, Mont., Raylene (Jesse) Rider of Ronan and Caitlin Cooper (Brent Smith) of Dillon; and several grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews, and cousins.

He is preceded in death by his father, Raymond Cooper, stepmother Janet Cooper, his mother, Aliene (Cellmer) Cooper, and his grandparents, Fon and Freda Cooper and Henry and Pauline Cellmer.

A celebration of Daryl’s life is planned for the end of April 2025.

    Daryl Vernon Cooper