When brother-in-law Preston Sartelle, Jr. stood up to lead his portion of the service, he took a moment to look around, and said: “Before I begin, let me ask something. Would all the ministers in the sanctuary please stand.” More than 15 men stood; all who had come to celebrate the life and home-going of a man who had touched their lives.

After a night of sleet and cold rain, the sun came out over the beautiful Draper Valley region of southwestern Virginia at 10:00AM Saturday morning as the immediate family gathered at the graveside to participate in the internment of The Reverend Cortez Cooper. The Draper’s Valley Presbyterian Church has maintained a church cemetery for over a century just across Old Baltimore Pike from the church property and another of their pastors was interned in the beautiful pastoral setting of the nearby farmland.

An hour later, more than 200 people filled the sanctuary for a memorial service of celebration of the life and ministry of ‘Corty’ Cooper. Nearly 1/3 of those people represented extended family of Corty and his wife, Pat, who grew up in the Draper’s Valley manse where he father, Preston Sartelle, Sr. had served as pastor from 1942 to 1957 (taking 3 years off to enter the Navy as a Chaplain, being assigned to combat Marines in the Western Pacific). Pat was the oldest of five children.

Pat, and her sister, Susan, both married men who were ministers in the PCUS and then the PCA. Her three brothers were also ordained ministers, Preston Jr. and John started in the PCUS and moved to the PCA; baby brother Mike was ordained in the PCA. Pat’s brother-in-law, the Reverend Calvin Jett, and her brothers Preston Jr. and John participated in the memorial service. (Mike was tragically killed in an auto accident in Mississippi in 1992.) Assisting in the service was the host pastor of Draper’s Valley, the Reverend Robert Davis.

The service was indeed celebratory, with John Sartelle’s Call to Worship focusing on Jesus great words in John 11 proclaiming that He was the resurrection and the life, following by Job’s great proclamation that his Redeemer lived and his assurance of that he would one day see God. The congregation responded with a full throated singing of ‘I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art’, followed by a unison reading of a prayer of invocation and the Twenty Third Psalm.

When brother-in-law Preston Sartelle, Jr. stood up to lead his portion of the service, he took a moment to look around, said: “Before I begin, let me ask something. Would all the ministers in the sanctuary please stand.” More than 15 men stood; all who had come to celebrate the life and home-going of a man who had touched their lives.

Preston then focused on several key verses of the many in the Scriptures exhorting believers not to fear, including Isaiah 41:13 and Matthew 28:5, recognizing that it is natural for us to fear, but the knowledge that we will see Jesus, as Corty already has, is the comfort we need in times of grief, emphasizing that the gospel is ‘A Powerful Comfort’.

He then read several tributes that he had received in the email from close friends and co-workers of Corty in past years and encouraged the congregation to read the internet tributes written by recent former pastors, Ken Pierce and Don Clements. He closed with the reading of the official obituary.

After Pastor Davis led in the Pastoral Prayer and the singing of one of Carty’s favorite hymns, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, Calvin Jett came to the pulpit to preach. His text was 2 Timothy 1:8-14 and the sermon title was “A Man Bold With The Gospel.”

Jett began by rehearsing some of the many great gifts God had given Corty, including his athletic ability (reflecting on the fact that Corty had been recruited by several major league baseball teams after high school). In fact, Preston had mentioned that one of those teams was the St. Louis Cardinals and explained that on the Monday night of the heart attack, Corty was watching game 4 of the World Series, rooting for his Cardinals. What were most likely his last words, Pat recalls he was complaining about the umpires.

Other gifts Calvin listed were his intellect, demonstrated with his complete college and seminary with honors, and holding his own with Francis Schaeffer during his time at L’Abri; his memory which allowed him to recall a name 20 years after last seeing a friend; his pastoral skills, which were recognized by the presence of visitors at the service from churches Corty had served in Narrows, Virginia, Winchester, Virginia, Marriottsville, Maryland, Nashville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.

But of all his gifts, Jett focused on Corty’s openness and boldness with people as he fearlessly shared the good news of the gospel. Calvin then used the text in 2nd Timothy to explain clearly and powerfully to those gathered for the service that the gospel was for each of them to believe.

John Sartelle returned to complete the service, leading the congregation in a Confession of Faith, utilizing Heidelberg Catechism Question Number 1: What is your only comfort in life and death? The service closed with the singing of ‘For All The Saints’ and a benediction.

After the service a reception was held in the church’s spacious fellowship hall giving time for everyone to greet Pat and the family and to chat with old friends.

Oh, yes, about all those ministers that showed up. They included John Robertson, representing the PCA Stated Clerk’s office; two staff members from Corty’s days as Coordinator of MNA – Fred Marsh who still is the Associate Coordinator and Marvin Padgett who was the RUF Coordinator; Mike Sharrett, the Cooper’s pastor in Lynchburg where they have been living the past 5 years; Andy Wood, the current RUF campus minister at Virginia Tech had who interned under Corty at Kirk of the Hills in St. Louis; Gordon Reed, Richard Jennings, and several others (who your author did not know). A number of others who had planned to attend were stopped by the unexpected snow storm that struck just north of Draper’s Valley overnight.

Let it be understood that the impact that Cortez Cooper had on people in many cities and towns in this nation will carry on through the lives of all those who joined in the days celebration. May he indeed rest in peace, as well as the joy of his eternal presence with Jesus.