It’s not often that the room fills up at a Turlock Unified School District board meeting during summer break, but that was exactly the case Tuesday evening.

The anticipated matter at hand was the pending resolution to re-name Julien Field, home of the Turlock American Little League, to the Paul Cooper Field after the longtime coach and mentor that recently passed away. Much to the delight of those in the room, the resolution was unanimously passed. It was met with a round of applause. 

Because Tuesday’s meeting was fast-moving and the vote came 30 minutes ahead of schedule, the resolution was read again for those who missed the vote, and was met with similar cheer.

Among those in the crowd were wife Edna Cooper, sister Pamela Jessee and lifelong friend Ron Allen. Jessee rose to speak, and gave an abundance of credit to Allen for helping kickstart a coaching legacy that would last over five decades.

“I met Paul when he was about 18, and I was about 27. I was coaching Babe Ruth for the first year and I drafted his little brother (William),” Allen said. “Paul came up, introduced himself to me, and asked if I needed a scorekeeper. I had no idea what I was doing and needed all the help I could get, and so he helped me every single game and took up coaching. I don’t know what I would do without him. He knew more about the game than anybody. He was brilliant. He went on and coached both of my boys and two of my grandsons.

“I can't think of anybody better to receive this honor. He was an amazing human. The perfect man.”

Cooper, who passed away at the age of 75 on May 3, began coaching Little League during his senior year at Denair High School in 1967. He retired from working at the Turlock Irrigation District and coaching in 2019 after helping Todd Feldman coach the Tigers to a majors city championship and through that summer’s Tournament of Champions.

“That was the joke when we got married: Baseball’s the first wife and I’m the second wife,” Edna joked. “It was a lot of work, but it means a lot that this got done.”

Spearheading the mission was Mary Machado, whose sons were coached by Cooper. She is a board member of Turlock American Little League and chaired the special re-naming committee.

“He wasn't a heavy coach, if that makes sense. He was a very delightful person, and most of all, he wanted to make a positive impact on young men,” Machado said. “He stressed that baseball is a game of failure, that if you fail 70% of the time, it’s still considered a success. That was one of the many life lessons he taught.”

The idea of re-naming Julien Field, located on North Johnson Road on the campus of Julien Elementary school, had been floated amongst several family, friends and community members over the past year.

“There had been a handful of people that said this should be done,” Machado said. “We just said that it's very important that our community remembers someone who was so generous and gave so much back to the community. We researched how we could get the field re-named and how to get the process going, and I'm really touched by the openness of everyone, how they were so eager to help.”

Selecting influential community members to sit on the committee was an important part of advancing the process. Members included former professional players Steve Soderstrom, Kevin Kramer and Brett Cumberland as well as local business owner Jason Machado who all played under Cooper. It also featured former and current Little League board members and leaders like Otto Askil, Phil Salazar and Maureen Kramer, fellow coaches Feldman, Jack Mayer and Glenn Kramer, fellow Kiwanians Rufus and Mary Keaton and Larry DeBora, and former Turlock High skipper and friend Mark de la Motte.

“Because my kids have been in school for 20 years, I had to fill the committee with community members that were respected and had a strong association with a man of such integrity. One thing led to another, and here we are now,” Machado said.

Each committee member wrote letters of support to the Board of Trustees. A public hearing for the resolution to re-name the field took place on June 3. There, dozens of community members shared memories and spoke strongly in support of re-naming the ballfield. 

Cooper worked alongside Allen at International Paper and later worked at Paul's Paint and Glass before working for the Turlock Irrigation District for 34 years, retiring in 2019. In addition to coaching, Cooper umpired games and served on the Little League Board. In 2001, Cooper was honored by the Turlock Chamber of Commerce and received the Youth Involvement Award. Two years later, he was honored by the Stanislaus Society for Safer Student Athletics for “outstanding leadership and dedication in the coaching of young athletes.” His service remained strong away from the ballpark, as he was an active member of the Kiwanis of Greater Turlock  for 23 years, where he organized the club's weekly breakfast meetings and managed the Turlock Christmas Parade.

Machado said they hope to have a formal ceremony to re-name the field at the start of the next Little League season.

“Coop Field is what I’ll call it,” Edna said. “All the kids called him ‘Coop,’ so that seems fitting. 

“Coop Field is finally here.”