An amateur photographer who has died at the age of 88 has been remembered as a "lovely person" who always wanted to help people.
Darrell Cooper, from Widnes, died in hospital this month having developed covid before he succumbed to pneumonia.
Darrell, well-known around Widnes town centre for his ever-present grin and love of taking photographs of sporting and civic events, will be commemorated in a service at noon on Monday, January 10, at Widnes Crematorium on Birchfield Road.
Following Darrell’s passing, his friend and hairdresser Colleen Mullally has revealed how her family’s bond with Darrell grew over the last 25 years from a simple haircut to looking out for him in his final years and visiting him in his final days.
READ MORE: Drug gang's empire crumbles as members jailed for over 89 years
Colleen, whose son Anthony Mullally’s professional rugby career began at Darrell’s beloved Widnes Vikings, said she was keen to spread the word of Darrell’s funeral to ensure a proper send-off and to give people an opportunity to contribute any memories and stories from his long life, and so she could make proper arrangements for his wake.
She wants to make his funeral as "special as possible" and said she would love for a bench featuring his name to be installed at the stadium, adding Darrell donated £200 to the Vikings club when it went into administration.
Colleen told the ECHO she first got chatting to Darrell when he entered Mullally’s Barbers in Warrington Market 25 years ago, which was “the only time he’s paid for a haircut”, and over the years they became good friends.
As an eager amateur photographer and avid Widnes fan, Darrell spotted the rugby photographs on the salon walls and offered to take pictures as a favour should Colleen ever need them.
Darrell’s handiwork with a lens now lives on festooning the walls of Mullally’s Barbers in Widnes.
His place in the family’s affections and memories was further secured when Colleen’s daughter did her first haircut aged 10 using Darrell as a willing participant.
She said “everybody loved Darrell”.
Looking back to their first encounter, Colleen said: “I had a few rugby pictures on the wall and we got talking about it, how he loves Widnes and photographs.
“He said ‘if you ever want any prints I can get the pictures out and you can give them back’.
“He came back the next weekend.
“He came in with the old fashioned negatives - he brought those and we were chatting away and that was the beginning.
“My Widnes shop is full of (pictures of) the old players and upcoming players, players through the years, and Darrell used to love that - he would come and tell the customers and say ‘those are all my pictures’.
“It was a talking point.”
Rugby fan Darrell also gave tips to a young Anthony Mullally, telling the emerging talented youngster to “Run! Run straight through the park!”
Colleen said Darrell entered the twilight of his years having lived a long life in which he served in the Army and also worked at the Everite works in Widnes.
Sign up for an Echo Widnes and Runcorn newsletter
Such was their bond that Colleen said Darrell asked her to “come looking for me” if she didn’t “see him for a while.
When his health began to fail around three years ago and he was admitted to hospital, Colleen tracked down.
She said: “He looked at me in the face and looked away and you know when somebody does a double take - ‘Colleen you found me! You found me!’
“I ran up and gave him a big hug.”
For his last three birthdays she organised small parties for him while he was in a care home, and after Darrell’s health began to seriously fail towards the end after covid passed, Colleen visited him again once safe to do so and, although he was visibly fading, she held his hands and “he squeezed my hands, I knew he heard me”.
Colleen said: “It’s just been so sad. He was just so nice to speak to.
“He would talk to everybody.
“He would help anybody, he’d take pictures.
“Everybody loved him.”
She added: “He was such a lovely person.”
Anybody with memories, stories and pictures of Darrell they want to share or to attend any of the commemorations for his life should contact Mullally’s Barbers in Widnes.
Colleen said any donations will go to his beloved Widnes Vikings.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
