Melissa Anne (Conine) Cooper, a long-time resident of Annapolis, passed away on February 20, 2025 at the age of 54 after a beautiful life and a long valiant war against cancer.

Melissa ("Missy" to her family) was born in San Diego, CA on March 25, 1970 to Benny and Alice Conine. She was the third of four children, and the family moved a few times due to her father's Navy career before settling in the Severna Park/Arnold area in 1982. The Conine family was always, and still remains, a very close-knit group.

After graduating from Severna Park HS in 1988, Melissa spent a couple of years at Anne Arundel Community College while working as a title searcher and holding other local jobs, before realizing that her career calling was to be a teacher. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1997 and began teaching at the elementary school level.

On May 9, 1998 Melissa married James Cooper. In the summer of 2000, they moved to their home in the Hillsmere community of Annapolis, and Melissa promptly began her lifelong process of painting (and repainting) their living spaces in many various colors and styles. Melissa and James also started their family: Meghan was born in April 2002 and Ryan in March 2004. Melissa took a break from teaching to focus on raising the family and was active in many community and school activities with her children, as well as serving as a substitute teacher.

Once Meghan and Ryan were finished with Elementary School, Melissa returned to work full-time at Annapolis Middle School, where she would teach 6th-grade Social Studies until she needed to take a disability retirement at the end of 2022. She was an excellent teacher, loved by her students and she had a profound impact on many lives. No doubt she made the right career choice.

Melissa loved to travel and inspired the family to take some epic vacations, creating life-long memories in places such as the Cayman Islands, the Outer Banks, and many beautiful National Parks from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. She loved being by the water, and was happiest near the ocean or on the family's boat (or a unicorn-shaped inflatable raft...) at Deep Creek Lake. But most of all, Melissa was passionate about her family, always staying connected to her parents, siblings, in-laws, husband and children no matter where life took them. She was a fierce advocate for her children, supporting and encouraging Meghan and Ryan in all their endeavors. That fierceness and passion also kept her moving forward against the tide of her cancer for over a decade, seeking new adventures.

Preceded in death by her parents, Melissa is survived by her husband, two children, brother Ben (Dawn) Conine, sisters Lora (Steve) McCoy and Alicia (Joe) Zamorano, brothers-in-law David (Christine) Cooper and Andy (Pam) Cooper, sister-in-law Sharon (John) Croft Cooper, her mother- and father-in-law, and a legion of nieces, nephews, and friends.

A private service for immediate family will be held on Saturday March 1st.

Her family is planning a Celebration of Life event for all family and friends in the Spring, somewhere near the water in Annapolis. Information about that event (and any other memorial) will be posted here.  ( https://sites.google.com/view/melissa-cooper-memorial-info/home)

If desired, memorial donations may be made to https://chartingcareers.org/ a local organization helping kids from Annapolis Middle and other area schools via mentoring, life experiences, career counseling and more.