Sadly, Tremaine Coooper of Bluemont, Virginia, was in an accident Saturday and passed away. He was 52 years old.
Here is Tremaine in front of a jump I’m assuming he designed. The photo is from his Facebook page.
While his main focus in life was Equestrian Event Course Design (read a short obituary about him and his event history here and view some of his creative event courses here on Facebook), for which he was internationally recognized, he too was afflicted with the Willys Sickness. He had been a regular reader of eWillys over the years and we corresponded on an irregular basis about jeeps.
In December of 2019, he learned about my trip to Virginia and hoped to meet up so he could show me the local jeeps around Bluemont (he put together several collections for us to see). I suspect it would have been a great visit. Regrettably, as often happens, I ran short on time, so I had to put it off. Then, the pandemic hit, so I had to cancel plans to fly back to Virginia in the spring of 2020.
In late 2020, Tremaine visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and Kentuk Knob, where he learned that Frank Lloyd Wright had owned jeeps, among other cars. He was excited to share what he learned, which led to this post.
In January of 2021 he wrote that he was hoping to have some work out in the PNW during the summer of 2021, so hoped to meet up at that time.
Alas, now we’ll have to schedule a visit together in that big jeepers reunion and parts swap meet in the afterworld. My warmest regards to Brian and Tremaine’s family.
Wow. I’m shocked and very sorry to hear this. I had hoped to meet him one day.
That’s the sadest news I’ve had in a long time and so sorry to hear it. I became good friends with Tremaine through Brian and actually bought a few really cool Jeeps (mystery bodied Jeep) and some various others. We swapped pto stuff back and forth and he was coming down for a visit on his way through Ct. Truly a great guy with an amazing passion for his work and all things Willys. RIP Tremaine and my thoughts and prayers are with his family
Ted
Ted, we are blessed to have the Bantam plow from Tremaine. Thank you.
I heard the news yesterday and was shocked.
It doesn’t surprise me to learn he died helping someone in need though.
I hadn’t spoken to Tremaine in several weeks. He called regarding his restoration plans for CJ-2A 10068.
I read the articles about his passing and thought I didn’t have a way to send my condolences. Going thru the mail tonight I found an envelope from him with a return address (afterwords I learned his wife Marion may be going thru his email and texts to let people know). The envelope had a piece of a Goodyear Tire tube from 1955 that he had removed from the CJ5-10001 training cutaway he has. He wanted me to see that it was in perfect shape.
He gave me a few pieces from the restoration of CJ2-06 early on, and I drove the Jeep at his past residence in Hardwick, Mass immediately after the restoration was complete. I asked him after the drive what he planned to due with it. He said he would never sell it and he wanted his kids to drive it and enjoy it (and the CJ6 he was building). I thought that was the perfect answer, but I knew of a museum that wanted to buy it so I had to ask.
I hope after his family has time to grieve that they will continue pursuit of his interests in tribute to his memory.
Are you serious that Brian is his cousin??? I never knew that !
I was shocked to hear about this the other day. I only
Met him once when he brought his pre production cj2
And the cj5 cutaway to the willys reunion. Very nice guy and quiet too.
Wow that’s terrible. He was a really nice and humble guy. Thanks for letting us know.
Bill
I am pleased that word of Tremaine’s passing has spread to the eWilly’s community. Tremaine and I lived close to each other and would visit often sharing our common interests. We made several trips to West Virginia over the recent years examining several unique Jeeps. For those that do not know, Tremaine was a vault of Jeep knowledge and experience. Regretfully, I didn’t take good notes like I should have as I operated on the assumption, “Hey, I’ll just ask Tremaine.” What folks should know about Tremaine is very simple; he was NOT a KIA- a “know it all” whom we have all experienced folks like that in the past. He was always reserved and never overbearing with his knowledge. Just a very talented but humble, low key kind of guy that had a passion for life and helping others along the way. I will miss my good friend dearly. P. M. “Marty” Fravel.