Stuart Neil Kopp

Stuart Neil Kopp passed on Monday, February 6, 2023 at the age of 70 years old. He was born in Oklahoma City, OK on September 8, 1952 to his parents, Charles Stanley and Lillian Ida Kopp. He had been close to his maternal grandfather, Louis Mandel, until his passing when Stuart was 14 in 1966. Stuart was the essence of cool. Whether running around the house as a young boy using a bath towel as a cape pretending to be Superman in the 1950s, or growing his Tom Jones-like hair out in the late 1960s, and singing loudly into a stereo speaker, Stu was cool. He lifted weights as a teen, and had many friends. He was handsome, and flashed his personable smile. Stuart had a good voice, and sang in Concert Chorus at Edison High School in the late 1960s under the direction of Laven Sowell. This was a special joy. Mr. Sowell teased him by calling him "Stew-Rat"; Stuart smiled. He attended Carnegie and Waite Phillips Elementary Schools, Edison Junior and Senior High Schools and the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated in 1974. Stuart majored in special education, but went to work with his father at his insurance business, and stayed for ten years, then struck out on his own. He stayed in the insurance business, the health and life side, for the rest of his life. Andrew and Adam, Stuart's two sons, worked with him in the business after they finished school; it is now theirs. SPORTS were a major part of Stuart's life, especially baseball. And especially the St. Louis Cardinals. As a child in the early 1960s, he played baseball with neighborhood kids on the site of the soon-to-be Southland Shopping Center, now the declining Promenade Mall. He lived with his family in the neighborhood just south of it until they moved a little less than a mile to the west across Yale in February 1966. Stuart was a cub scout, played little league baseball, and was on teams and pickup games for most of his life, including slow pitch softball. He also played basketball in the driveway and touch football. Tennis not so much, but he rode horses for several years in the late 60s/early 70s when his family had them. As an adult he enjoyed playing softball and football with a group of Jewish men on Sunday morning for decades. Stuart attended B'nai Emunah Synagogue for religious and Hebrew school, and had his Bar Mitzvah in September 1965. He was a member of AZA (Aleph Zadik Aleph) boys group of BBYO (B'nai Brith Youth Organization) in high school, and was BBG's (B'nai Brith Girls) "Beau", their favorite guy, in his senior year. Then was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammys) Jewish fraternity at the University of Oklahoma. Stuart had great love for his two sons, Andrew and Adam. He coached their sports teams, and was an American Dad. His family vacationed and fished in Colorado with his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Colonel Frank and Lois Tenney, with whom he was very close. He was married to Debbie Tenney (now Singer) for 25 years. They had many enjoyable years together. Stuart loved his dogs. His last ones were Hunter and Gibson, labs as usual, but in the past had several others including Tara Lynn, Coda and Hildi (not a lab). Walking them, and speaking in a special voice gave him (and them) pleasure. He also enjoyed gardening. Stuart is survived by his two sons, Andrew and Adam, his brother, Norman, and his sister, Valorie. Please make donations to B'nai Emunah Synagogue and Temple Israel, both in Tulsa.

Stuart Neil Kopp

September 8, 1952 - February 6, 2023