Long-time security industry leader Bill Cooper passed away December 4 after a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer. For those who knew Bill or “Coop” as he was fondly known by many of us, he went out as he lived, doing his share for the electronic security industry. As he battled, Coop continued to contribute to SIAC and other forums across the country, to raise the bar for our industry. SIAC salutes him, and all that he has done over the years. He cannot be replaced.
Beyond Coop’s significant contributions, he stood out as a positive role model for others, particularly newer companies and individuals entering the security industry. He’d run his own alarm company, served as President of the Kentucky Burglar and Fire Alarm Association and as a SIAC Industry Liaison Manager while in his position with Tyco and ADT. Through that experience, he found multiple ways to lead and help others. If you happened to know Bill, you’d see him at meetings offering advice, speaking from experience, sharing lessons he’d learned so that others could grow from his knowledge. We’ll miss that.
Coop also stepped up on the big issues. He understood the battles our industry needs to fight, realizing our need to provide a strong and united front to do what is right for the majority of companies. His voice cannot be replaced.
As a person, we’ll miss his sense of humor, his drive to excel, and his ability to win industry golf tournaments. Because of his wide range of experience, Bill’s opinions held extra value, giving SIAC and others greater depth and range when it came to developing solutions with outside parties. Working in potentially divisive environments, Bill sounded a clear voice for fact-based discussions that led to outcomes with buy-in. We appreciated all that he did, not just on alarm management issues, but his work as an industry leader in Kentucky and nationally through the Electronic Security Association.
His awards and accomplishments are many. We recognized Coop with the “Bill Moody Award,” which touted much of his work noted above. Significantly, he was also a key to maintaining the critical balance between larger and smaller company interests because he had worked in both those worlds.
Though he is no longer with us, Bill’s imprint will continue. We offer our prayers for Bill and his family.