Alumni Spotlight
Sara Cooper ’80
Warrior in a Hot Pink Chariot by Linda Maxwell Stefanelli ’62
Sara Cooper may be forced to spend all day in a wheelchair, but she sees absolutely no reason not to deck it out with hot pink wheels. Her flashy ride, her mischievous smile and the jaunty Hermès scarf camouflaging her neck brace are simply the first clues that Sara is not about to let her illness define her. In November 2018, she was diagnosed with ALS, a progressively debilitating, incurable disease. While she may be limited physically, she’s lost none of her indomitable spirit or compassion for others. “Initially terrified, I decided to take my diagnosis in a positive direction,” she says. “I’m a problem solver. I can’t cure ALS but I do know how to get things done, so my goal is to raise awareness about this disease and help others who have it.” The first hint of trouble came in 2016 when she was indulging what she calls her Martha Stewart tendencies by decorating her house for Halloween. Although she and her husband, Mike Delehanty, have no children, Sara had carved five pumpkins and was standing on a chair to hang the last decoration when she fell. She broke her left leg and right arm. She ended up in a wheelchair for three months and endured grueling physical therapy, during which time her therapist asked if Sara had fallen before. She realized she had, about five times over the year, unusual for a woman of 53. “I really don’t believe there are any accidents in life,” she says. “I believe those three months were a trial period for me to really think about my life and to learn to be in this wheelchair.” She experienced the first symptoms in 2017 with a weakening in her hands and legs. A year later she was officially diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. It tends to leave the mind unaffected but gradually and inexorably, one’s hands and legs cease to function and one loses the ability to speak, swallow and breathe. The average survival rate is two to five years from the onset of symptoms, although about ten percent of patients live more than 10 years. There are 30,000 Americans with ALS and every 90 minutes another is diagnosed and another dies. There are currently 10 people within a 10-mile radius of Sara’s house suffering from the disease.
Sara knew about ALS because her neighbor, Jodi O’Donnell-Ames, lost her first husband to the disease in 2001. Jodi founded Hope Loves Company, the country’s only non-profit organization to offer emotional and educational support to children and young adults with a family member suffering from ALS. Sara serves on its board. Jodi says, “Sara’s an integral part of our growth with her marketing skills, her compassion, her intelligence and her vision.” When Sara was unable to find information to navigate the complicated issues confronting people with a terminal illness, she used her considerable skills and business experience to create “The ALS Roadmap”, a hot pink and white brochure that provides practical advice on medical, legal, emotional, psychological and insurance matters. She plans to sell ads and use the proceeds to fund special treats for ALS patients and caregivers such as a spa day or cleaning service.
Sara Cooper and her husband Mike Delehanty
Blazing trails is nothing new to Sara. She transferred to Princeton Day School in seventh grade after attending Stuart Country Day School through sixth. At PDS, she played varsity tennis and was a formidable goalie on the championship soccer team. “To play goalie, all you need is a lot of attitude,” she laughs. Sara and classmate Lynn Shapiro Starr, now a lawyer and noted Washington telecommunications lobbyist, soon became inseparable. “We helped each other grow up, we nurtured each other,” Lynn remembers. “Sara was and is so much fun. She’s such a spirited person, so full of life even in the place she finds herself today. She’s extraordinary; she’s smart, beautiful, articulate, she’s the total package.” Sara attended Wheaton College but after two years, transferred to Boston University and graduated with a degree in finance. She built a successful career in banking but felt unfulfilled so she took a gamble and enrolled at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.
“It was the best decision I ever made,” she says. “It was nerve-wracking, but I never looked back. Culinary school taught me that my creative spirit, innate desire to nurture and my passion for building relationships could actually be the basis for a career.” After 20 years in Boston, Sara and her husband settled in Titusville, NJ. She took a sales job at a regional newspaper, Town Topics, and reconnected with PDS by serving two terms on the Alumni Board. She calls herself a “serial entrepreneur” and co-founded Four Girls, a catering company that was honored by the Trenton YWCA. In 2010, she founded Cooper Creative Group. It provides marketing and branding solutions and operates as a consortium of local experts in marketing, public relations, information technology and communications. Last June, the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce honored Sara and her company with its first-ever Impact Award. Sara has always been an enthusiastic and effective volunteer, serving on numerous non-profit boards and committees. She has a gift for bringing people of varying interests together and has developed a widespread network of friends and colleagues. She went public with her diagnosis in March 2019 and has been enormously touched by the outpouring of support. She has what she calls a tribe of about 50 women, and a few men, who do the things she no longer can. They drive, do marketing, wash windows, weed the garden and write the thank you notes Sara would hate to leave unsent. “I feel very blessed,” she says. “I’ve had a wonderful life, I feel great, I’m not just saying that. I’m adapting and the outpouring of support from everybody is truly more humbling to me than ALS.” “Sara has always led with her heart and has given so much to this community,” Jodi says. “What’s happened here is the beauty of ‘what goes around, comes around.’ People want to give back and support this beautiful, amazing, talented woman.” “I’m a fighter and I’m determined to make a difference in my time left,” Sara says. Then that impish smile appears and she reminds us why she will do just that. “I’m very strong-willed, I’m a little sassy, I’m pretty funny and I like to think I’m kind, but I do things my way. I’m not saying ALS is easy, it’s a vicious disease—but I’m not a quitter.” The Class of 1980 Reunion Committee invites classmates and members of our community to make their gift to the PDS Annual Fund in honor of Sara Cooper ’80. spring 2020