Hundreds remember North Texas rodeo legend Roy Cooper at memorial event
North Texas rodeo legend Roy Cooper lived life to the fullest and left an unforgettable legacy behind him, family and friends said at his memorial service Monday.
The 69-year-old world champion calf roper died April 29 when his home near Decatur was destroyed by fire. Hundreds gathered at the Fort Worth Stockyards on Memorial Day to honor him and share stories about the man who had touched their lives.
A red stagecoach bearing the name Super Looper Roy Cooper and the year of each of Cooper’s eight world championships stood outside the Cowtown Coliseum. Inside, life-sized photos of Cooper hung above the platform. A slideshow of his life and rodeo career flashed across the screen while “That’s Why God Loves Cowboys” played over the speakers.
Roy Cooper’s legacy
“There was nothing that he did that wasn’t perfection when it came to a rope and a piggin’ string,” Cooper’s son-in-law Trevor Brazile told the crowd. “It was unbelievable to watch. And I was just so honored that, for some reason, he picked me to get to go along for some of that journey.”
Brazile, who went on to win 26 World Champion titles of his own, said he’ll never be able to repay what the Super Looper did for him. The horse he rode in his very first rodeo belonged to Cooper, and he felt he’d arrived when Cooper started calling him his “sidekick.”
“When Super Looper tells a kid that doesn’t know he’s enough that you are, that flips a switch,” Brazile said. “And he told me that enough that I believed it.”
Ty Murray, the professional bull rider known as King of the Cowboys, told how Cooper inspired him as a kid watching the National Finals Rodeo. He called Cooper “the legends’ legend.”
“He brought a coolness and a gift factor that affected all of us that wanted to do this and be great at it,” Murray told the crowd.
Country music star George Strait talked about Cooper’s love for God and his family and shared stories from their decades-long friendship.
“He was my hero,” Strait said. “We shared a lot of good and bad times together. He didn’t hang out with me, I hung out with him.”
For years, Cooper hosted junior calf roping clinics as a way to invest in the next generation. Countless youngsters, including Lesley Stierwalt, participated.
Stierwalt told the Star-Telegram that she was 12 when she first met Cooper. The Super Looper opened his home to her when she was a young adult traveling the rodeo circuit, and she knew she could call him anytime day or night.
“He was so welcoming,” Stierwalt said.
On Monday, Stierwalt made the nearly six-hour trip from her home in Oklahoma to attend Cooper’s memorial service.
“He was a friend,” she said.
Impact of the Super Looper
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also considered Cooper one of his friends. The two met when they were 19, Miller told the crowd, and over the years they talked about Cooper’s career and family and how proud he was of his three sons.
On Friday, May 23, the Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed a memorial resolution honoring Cooper’s life and legacy. Miller read the resolution and statements sent by President Donald Trump and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.
Trump sent his condolences to Cooper’s family and friends.
“He made his sport and his country proud,” Trump said in a statement. “We join you and celebrate his rich, exciting and inspirational life.”
Perry called Cooper a friend and someone he loved and admired.
“Indelible is the word that describes Roy Cooper and his impact on his family, in the rodeo world and our state,” Perry said in the statement. “We will miss his dry sense of humor and his warm humanity.”
Tuf Cooper and Clif Cooper shared memories of their father and how his legacy impacted them.
Clif Cooper said as a child he always wondered why his dad had four names — Roy Cooper Super Looper — and he only had two names. He thought maybe at a certain age he would get two more names.
“That is where I was wrong,” Clif Cooper said. “Because there is only one Roy Cooper Super Looper, and he was my dad.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
