Frances G. Cooper, 96, horticultural volunteer

Frances Grace Murphy Cooper, 96, formerly of Springfield, Delaware County, a skilled gardener and horticultural volunteer, died Monday, Sept. 1, of renal cancer at the Philip Hulitar Inpatient Hospice in Providence, R.I.

Born in Rutherford, N.J., she was the second of six children. The lively Murphy household moved to various places before finally settling in Philadelphia.

During the Depression, the family's candy business kept it afloat. The children worked the streets "with boxes like the cigarette girls in Las Vegas" selling chocolate and nut candy made by their mother, Ella Schneider Murphy, in her kitchen.

"Mom bore proud witness to her family's resilience later, by telling stories about those days to her apartment mates in assisted living in Providence," said her daughter, the Rev. Janet M. Cooper Nelson.

Mrs. Cooper graduated at age 16 from West Philadelphia High School in 1934 and joined the advertising firm of N.W. Ayer & Sons, where she met Ernest A. Cooper.

The two married in Philadelphia in 1939 and lived there until moving to Springfield in 1951. They moved to Providence in 2005. He died the same year at age 91.

Mrs. Cooper's passions were her faith, her family, and her Springfield garden - remarkable for its thousands of species, pastoral design on a small lot, and flourishing hard-to-propagate plants and trees.

Her green thumb produced an indoor array of African violets, gloxinia, orchids, and ferns. She also was a judge at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

In 1979, she retired from full-time employment as a broker in a real estate office, and enrolled in the Barnes Foundation's horticulture program. "She felt like a girl in heaven," Nelson said.

She then became a volunteer at the Scott Arboretum on the campus of Swarthmore College, contributing hundreds of hours annually for more than 15 years.

Another hobby was music. She regularly scanned the schedule of Philadelphia Orchestra concerts, hopped the trolley from Springfield, and purchased tickets for the cheap seats at the top of the Academy of Music.

"The city was her oyster. Though she was not a wealthy woman, she participated in its institutions as a grateful citizen. She contributed to - and bore active witness to - the importance of vibrant civic life," Nelson said.

Besides her daughter, she is survived by a son, David E.; another daughter, Judith Cooper Andersen Berk; five grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two sisters.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, in Manning Chapel at Brown University, Providence. Mrs. Cooper donated her body to the university's Alpert Medical School.

Donations may be made to Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island, 1085 N. Main St., Providence, R.I. 02906.