ANNA MARIA – Pat Copeland’s celebration of life included family, friends, co-workers, tears, laughter, music, poetry and a New Orleans-style second-line march down Pine Avenue.
Pat passed away on June 13 at the age of 76. The longtime Anna Maria resident spent decades working as a newspaper reporter and copy editor at the Anna Maria Island Sun and other local newspapers.
In 1990, she and Carolyne Norwood co-founded the Anna Maria Island Historical Society and Historical Museum to preserve the Island’s history.
The July 8 celebration of life began at Roser Memorial Community Church and opened with a recorded version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “59th Street Bridge Song,” which includes the lines, “Slow down, you move too fast … looking for fun and feeling groovy.”
Kevin Griffith is married to Layla Copeland, Pat and Doug Copeland’s oldest daughter, and he welcomed the attendees.
“On behalf of the entire Copeland family, we express our heartfelt gratitude with you for sharing this ceremony to honor Pat’s amazing life. Although we carry immeasurable sadness, we also hold a deep love and affection for Pat as we celebrate her memory,” he said.
While reciting the children’s poem, “Birdsong,” granddaughter Lily Nolan said, “He doesn’t know the world at all, who stays in his nest and doesn’t go out… A blackbird sings upon a bush to greet the dawning after night, Then I know how fine it is to live.”
While reciting Mason Williams’ “Life Song,” grandson George Griffith said, “Isn’t life beautiful, isn’t life gay, isn’t life the perfect thing to pass the time away.”
Pat and Doug’s youngest daughter, Anna Copeland, sat at the baby grand piano and said, “My mother was smart, kind, patient, creative and so much more. But when I think of her, the first thing I think of is how much fun she was. I think of all the wild and wacky times we had as a family. She made sure everyone around her was having fun too. She was a great champion of others. She encouraged and uplifted people. She believed in me way more than I believed in myself and seeing her confidence helped me follow my dreams.”
Anna then played and sang a beautiful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
While reciting Kenneth Patchen’s poem, “I Feel Drunk All the Time,” Anna’s husband, Norris Nolan, said, “O you’re a merry bastard Mr. Death and I wish you didn’t have no hand in this game because it’s too damn beautiful for anybody to die.”
After a recording of Phil Och’s “When I’m Gone,” was played, Layla eulogized her mom.
“I’m grateful that my mother was able to be part of your lives, just as I’m thankful she was such an important part of mine,” she said.
“The 1960s helped shape my mom’s consciousness and who she was. It gave her the writers, poets and musicians whose words meant so much to her. The sixties taught her that the value in life wasn’t held in things, but in the substance of your actions, friendships, community and above all, love.
“She would feed our passions with books and music, encouraging us to expand our minds and beliefs. She led by example, giving us the freedom to be wild, weird, whatever we wanted to be. She was the compass that steered all of us, enriching our lives in the process. Mom was our biggest supporter and always our most ardent defender,” Layla said.
Regarding her parents’ marriage, Layla said, “In 1972, they married while here in Anna Maria visiting Dad’s parents. Mom sewed a wedding shirt for Dad from an old curtain and quickly stitched up a dress for herself. There wasn’t any fanfare. No flowers, no guests. My grandfather presided over the ceremony in my grandparents’ living room on North Shore Drive. It wasn’t fancy, but it was true and honest, just like them and their 50-year marriage.”
Regarding her mom’s legacy, Layla said, “Much has been said about my mother and her contributions to the Island. She helped write the pages of its history for over 35 years and in doing so she is now and forever woven into the rich tapestry of this Island. Maya Angelou once said that your legacy is every life you touch. For my mother, the grasp of that touch extended beyond the people in this room. It reaches to every person who learns something from reading her articles, every visitor who sets foot inside the historical museum, every museum scholarship recipient and all the future generations of our family because we will all carry her legacy forward.”
Pat Copeland’s family members painted and decorated the parasols used in the second-line march. – Joe Hendricks | SunKevin then invited everyone to join in the second-line march to the Historical Museum.
“There’s one requirement: you must put a little strut in your step. We have music and we have parasols hand-decorated by Pat’s grandchildren, with a little help from the family. Grandma, Pat, we love you and we miss you. But as my son Louis told his mother last week: We can speak to grandma any time we want and we will be comforted to know that she’ll always be listening,” he said. A recorded version of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young” followed his remarks.
Outside the church, folks were greeted by a second-line duo, Jammin’ Jambalaya, featuring Chris Clifton on trombone and Mark Zauss on trumpet and pulling a small speaker emitting the snappy drum parts needed for a second-line march down Pine Avenue.
At the museum grounds, former city commissioner Dale Woodland said, “That was special.”
“She would’ve loved it,” Pat’s sister, Anna Hayden, said.
Red wine, bottled water and mini-cupcakes were served behind the Belle Haven Cottage and Doug proposed a toast taken from an old TV commercial.
“Pat and I adopted it as the Copeland family toast. So, raise a glass. Let’s drink to Pat: ‘Salute and happy days,’ ” Doug said.
When sharing his final thoughts on the celebration,” Doug said, “Good party. Love you, Pat.”
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