Dardinell Angela Cope

Dardinell Angela (nee Danielson) Cope February 20, 1932 - December 7, 2019     Dardinell Angela Cope, age 87, passed away peacefully on December 7, 2019, surrounded by family members at her bedside.  She, and her loving husband Ben of 63 years, had recently moved to Touchmark at the Ranch in Prescott, Arizona to enjoy another warm weather winter.   Dardy was born on February 20, 1932, in Tyler, Minnesota. She grew up in the small rural town of Ivanhoe, Minnesota with her younger brother, Aelred “Buck” Danielson. She attended St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in teaching. She met her husband, Benjamin F. Cope, Jr., during a college summer waitressing job in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. After their engagement in 1954, she taught kindergarten in Marshall, Minnesota while Ben served for 2 years in the Army. They married on October 20, 1956, at St. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Ivanhoe, Minnesota, and raised seven children while living in Willingboro, New Jersey; South Bend, Indiana and Ann Arbor, Michigan. They spent their retirement years residing between their summer home on Leech Lake in Walker, Minnesota and their winter desert home in Fountain Hills, Arizona.   Two of her seven children, Renee and Vaughn, predeceased her. Dardy is survived by her husband, Ben; Kevin (Maura) Cope; Bret (Martha) Cope; Sonja Cope; Tara (Brad) Schaefer; Gina Smith; her brother Buck Danielson; fifteen grandchildren and one great granddaughter.   A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, December 13, 2019, at 11:00 AM.  It will be preceded by a 10:30 AM rosary at St. Germaine Catholic Church, 7997 East Dana Drive, Prescott Valley, Arizona. A graveside burial service will be held next summer in Ivanhoe, Minnesota.   In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in honor of Dardy be sent to: Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, W284N698 Cherry Lane, Waukesha, Wisconsin 53188.