Ann Nixon Cooper, Obama supporter, laid to rest

Metro Atlanta

Ann Nixon Cooper, Obama supporter, laid to rest

Photos: The funeral of Ann Nixon Cooper, the Atlanta centenarian and Obama voter who gained fame when Barack Obama referred to her in his Election Day speech.

The funeral of 107-year-old Ann Louise Nixon Cooper was held at the Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Dec. 28. She gained fame when President Barack Obama invoked her name in his Election Day speech.

Ann Nixon Cooper is survived by her daughter, Joyce Cooper Bobo, 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Ambassador Andrew Young praised Ann Nixon Cooper at her funeral. Cooper was born on January 9, 1902, in Shelbyville, Tenn., and lived to see the first African American elected president of the United States.

The funeral service for Ann Nixon Cooper.

Weeks before the 2008 presidential election, Cooper went to the advance voting polls, and the media followed her. Obama called and left a message thanking her for her support, and eventually would tell the family he'd invoke her name in his acceptance speech.

"We're very proud of her," said Joyce Bobo, Cooper's only living child of four. Bobo is shown here on Dec. 22, the day her mother died.

Cooper's stories are being chronicled in the autobiography "A Century and Some Change: My Life Before the President Called My Name," due to be released days before what would have been her 108th birthday, on Jan. 9.

Then President-elect Obama had called Cooper an example of "the heartbreak and the hope," noting that she'd lived long enough to remember when African-Americans weren't allowed to vote and that she finally was able to help elect the country's first black president.

Cooper turned 107 on Jan. 9, 2009, and, at her party two days later, was dealing with a crush of well-wishers.

Kenneth Mannings, her oldest grandson, speaks fondly of his grandmother at the service.

The day Cooper died, Beverlyn Gordon from left), Laverne McIntosh, and Laura Rates, all close family friends, sit and reminisce in her bedroom.

Ann Nixon Cooper, age 22, in 1924.

A picture of a young Ann Nixon Cooper in her living room. Cooper came to Atlanta from Tennessee with her dentist husband, Albert Berry Cooper, soon after their 1922 marriage and raised four children here.

From left, Beverlyn Gordon, Laverne McIntosh (behind Gordon), and Laura Rates, all family friends, sit while James Davis (another family friend) greets grandson Mike Cooper in Ann Nixon Cooper's bedroom after her death on Dec. 22.

A photo of Ann Nixon Cooper with Mayor Shirley Franklin sits on a table in the hallway of Cooper's home.

1/15

The funeral of 107-year-old Ann Louise Nixon Cooper was held at the Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Dec. 28. She gained fame when President Barack Obama invoked her name in his Election Day speech.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Region 5AA Championship : Holy Innocents vs. KIPP Atlanta

PHOTOS: Holy Innocents’ wins Region 5AA championship in basketball

aajc 021926 state vs. georgia southern hoops

PHOTOS: Georgia State gets by Georgia Southern

Trump visits North Georgia today but has eyes on Atlanta

PHOTOS: Trump visits Georgia, revisits 2020 election

New UGA track facility

PHOTOS: Georgia track and field gets major facilities upgrade

More Galleries

World Cup draw party TKTKT

PHOTOS: Fans attend 2026 World Cup draw party in Atlanta

Randy Beck

'No body' homicide cases in Georgia

Stitch rendering 2025

PHOTOS: Renderings of Stitch project over Atlanta's Downtown Connector

People are silhouetted against a huge Pride flag before the start of the Atlanta Pride Parade on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Photos: Atlanta Pride Parade 2025