Obituary: Edwin Copeland

MILLPORT, Ohio – After nearly 50 years of observing Columbiana County’s weather and many years of reporting it to Farm and Dairy, Edwin Copeland will no longer be at the Millport 2 N.W., Ohio, weather station. The veteran weather observer died Dec. 27, 2005, at Great Trail Nursing Home.
Copeland, 85, received the National Weather Service’s Family Heritage Award Nov. 29, which honors families who have recorded 100 or more years of daily weather information. One day later, he had a cerebral hemorrhage from which he never recovered.
He was born March 1, 1920, to the late Lawrence and Anna Brown Copeland on the family farm in Millport. A graduate of Lisbon High School in 1938, he went on to serve in the Marine Corps during World War II, then returned to the farm, where he lived the rest of his life.
Along with raising cattle, Copeland worked in carpentry and construction. Carrying on the tradition started by his grandfather and continued by his father, Copeland began volunteering as a weather observer for the National Weather Service in 1956. In 1990, he received the Thomas Jefferson Award, the highest honor given to volunteer weather observers. He also served as adviser of the Franklin 4-H Club for 35 years, and was a member of the Bethesda Presbyterian Church for more than 70 years.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Eileen, and half-brother, Wilford Hogue.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Ketchum Copeland, whom he married April 12, 1944; daughters Janet Cooper of Minerva, Ohio, and Marilyn Wendt of Tyler, Texas; son Wilford Copeland of Orlando, Fla.; four grandsons; one great-granddaugther; seven step-grandchildren and several step-great-grandchildren.
Services took place Dec. 30. Burial was in Bethesda Cemetery. Memorial donations may be sent to Bethesda Cemetery, 12471 Bethesda Road, Hanoverton, OH 44423.