Riverside in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Reverend Hedley Heber Cooper

Photographed By Sean Flynn

1. Reverend Hedley Heber Cooper Marker

Inscription. In
memory of
Reverend
Hedley Heber Cooper
Chaplain
Killed on battle front
In France
May 26th, 1918

Erected 1921 by Riverside Grammar School.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Patriots & Patriotism • War, World I.

Location. 41° 49.615′ N, 87° 49.191′ W. Marker is in Riverside, Illinois, in Cook County. Memorial is at the intersection of Bloomingbank Road on Bloomingbank Road. The marker is one of several war memorials surrounding the flag pole at the center of Guthrie Park in downtown Riverside, across the street from the Riverside Railroad Depot, the library and Village Hall. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Riverside IL 60546, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. War Dead of World Wars I and II (here, next to this marker); Veterans Memorial (here, next to this marker); Sergeant James P. Quinn (here, next to this marker); Private Albert Edward Moore (here, next to this marker); World War Memorial (a few steps from this marker); Historic Riverside (within shouting distance of this marker); Riverside (within

Paid Advertisement

Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.

Click or scan to see
this page online

shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Historic Riverside (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Riverside.

More about this marker. Two additional memorials to local individuals who died in World War I are on nearby boulders, along with a boulder honoring all three men. The four markers were dedicated on Memorial Day 1921 to mark memorial trees that had been planted a year earlier by children from Riverside Grammar School.

Regarding Reverend Hedley Heber Cooper. Hedley Heber Cooper is considered the first Riverside resident to die in a foreign war, and he is also believed to be the first American clergyman to die in World War I. Born in in Adrian, Michigan, he was the son of Rev. Robert O. Cooper, who since 1908 had been the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church (a five-minute walk from Guthrie Park). After being ordained himself in 1914, Hedley Cooper became rector at St. Christopher's Church in Oak Park, about 4.5 miles north of his father's church.

After being rejected as a chaplain by the U.S. Army due to poor eyesight, Rev. Cooper eventually volunteered with the YMCA as a field secretary,

Guthrie Park markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Sean Flynn, September 25, 2023

2. Guthrie Park markers

and in February 1918 he traveled to France, where in late May he had joined the 168th Regiment, 42nd Division in the town of Baccarat, running canteens to front-line troops in the trenches.

Early in the morning of May 27, 1918, the Germans attacked the 168th's position near Badonviller using vaporized liquid phosgene followed by an artillery attack. According to a postwar account by the regiment's chaplain, Rev. Cooper and his fellow YMCA volunteer Halliday Smith went forward toward the fortifications on the front lines to assist. According to contemporary news accounts citing his comrades on the field, Rev. Cooper led a detail in bringing ammunition to the front line, and soon thereafter he succumbed either to gas poisoning or artillery fire.

Rev. Cooper was initially buried in the U.S. cemetery in Baccarat. In 1921, at his father request, his remains were returned to America and shipped to Christ Church in Sparkill, where he was buried in Rockland Cemetery.

In addition to the two monuments with Rev. Cooper's name at Guthrie Park, there is a stained-glass window dedicated in his honor at St. Paul's in Riverside. In Oak Park, Rev. Cooper is named on two monuments: the Peace Triumphant war memorial in Scoville Park, and the Gold Star Men of the World War tablet that sits in Longfellow Park. He is also listed on a plaque dedicated to University of Chicago

Rev. Hedley Heber Cooper (1886-1918) image. Click for full size.

National Archives, circa 1918

3. Rev. Hedley Heber Cooper (1886-1918)

Hedley Cooper's passport photograph for his application in 1918. He traveled to France as a YMCA volunteer in February of 1918 and died on the front lines about three months later.

students and alumni who died in World War I, inside the school's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Hedley Heber Cooper

Also see . . . Remembering Riverside's 'great heroic figure'. A 2018 article about Cooper in the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark (Submitted on September 28, 2023, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

St. Christopher’s Church in Oak Park image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Sean Flynn, September 28, 2023

4. St. Christopher’s Church in Oak Park

Rev. Hedley Heber Cooper was rector of St. Christopher’s Church on East Avenue in Oak Park, about 4.5 miles northeast of downtown Riverside. It was his first assignment. He stepped down from the position when he left to join the war effort.

Credits. This page was last revised on May 3, 2024. It was originally submitted on September 27, 2023, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 57 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 27, 2023, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 4. submitted on September 28, 2023, by Sean Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.