Sandra Cooper Young

Sandra Cooper Young died surrounded by family on Monday, February 27, 2023, at her home in Lexington, Kentucky. She was 84 years old. Sandra was the loving wife of nearly 65 years to Charles W Young Jr; devoted mother to Charles “Chuck” (Joanie) W Young III, Kim (Mike) Anderson, Kathy (Bill) Whalen and Karen Young; and beloved grandmother of Beth (Ross) Duncklee, John (Alexis) Whalen, Chris Anderson, Tony Whalen, Missy Whalen, Lyndsay Young and Catherine Young. She is also the great grandmother of Luke, Brooke, Ryan and Hank Duncklee, and John Jr., Shepherd, and Parker Whalen. Another Whalen great grandchild is on the way. Born on January 18, 1939, in Schenectady, New York, Sandy earned her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She met her husband, Charlie, in Syracuse, and they were married in 1958. As Charlie established his career with IBM, they moved from northern New Jersey to upstate New York to suburban Washington DC in Maryland to landing in Lexington in 1977. In Lexington, Sandy enrolled and graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Master of Science degree in Library Science in the fall of 1980. Employed shortly after, she founded the Information Technology Library for Ashland Oil’s IT department here in Lexington. She retired after over 10 years of service. An avid reader her entire life, logging a full book read every day for many years, Sandy also became involved with the Friends of the Lexington Public Library, and was one of the founding members of the Friends Book Cellar store, in the basement of the library downtown. She worked in the Book Cellar for many years after retiring from Ashland Oil. In addition, Sandy was an avid gardener and was a Life Member of The Garden Club of Kentucky, Inc. as well as President of the Evergreen Garden Club. She was an active participant of the League of Women Voters during her life and was Secretary of the Kentucky LWV in the 1980s. She also worked to further the causes of the National Organization of Women and the American Association of University Women during those years. Sandy was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel in the Honorable Order of the Kentucky Colonels in 1979. Sandy is also survived by 5 sisters-in-law, a brother-in-law, ten nieces and nephews, and their families. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Karen Elizabeth Young; her father, John Remington Cooper, Sr; her mother, Esther Carl Cooper; her brother John “Jack” (late Millicent) Remington Cooper, Jr., and her sister, Barbara (Gary) Cooper Fowler. A private family service will be held on Thursday, March 2, 2023 at Clark Legacy Center, 601 E Brannon Road, Nicholasville, KY. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org), and the Friends of the Lexington Public Library (www.lexpublib.org/friends). clarklegacycenter.com