Dovey Beam Cooper

Bullock, NC – Dovey Beam Cooper, 81 , passed at home on Monday, May 4th, 2026. She was born on October 1st, 1944, to the late Adelaide Greene Beam and Lloyd Calvin Beam in Mitchell County, NC.

Dovey Cooper (MaDove, or D) was a woman you didn’t forget once you met her. She was lively, full of laughter, and carried a light that made people feel! She loved the Lord in a practical way, and that love showed up in how she lived, spoke, worked, and cared for others every single day.

For more than 50 years, Dovey was a dedicated hairstylist, running her own beauty shop, and essentially the Bullock hang out! (Dovey’s Hairstyling). But anyone who sat in her chair knew they were getting more than just a “hair fix”. With a mix of humor, direct honesty, and a dash or two or 37 comments of “tough love,” she became a trusted listener, advisor, cost effective psychiatrist, and friend to many. You could walk in weighed down and walk out feeling lighter—whether from her wisdom, her laughter, her honesty, or all three.

She believed in hard work with her whole heart. To Dovey, hard work wasn’t just a value- it was the answer to just about anything life threw your way. And she lived out that belief daily, showing strength, resilience, independence, and determination in everything she did.

Dovey was a loving wife, wonderful mother, a caring mother-in-law, absolutely devoted grandmother, beloved sister, aunt, cousin and a great friend. Her family, (in which she fiercely defended and protected) was her everything-- and she poured herself into them with love, guidance, and that same honest spirit that defined her life.

She was blunt when she needed to be, (which she evidently thought was often) sincere always, and fiercely loving underneath it all. What you saw was what you got—and what you got was real, steady, and full of heart.

Dovey leaves behind a legacy of faith, laughter, hard work, and love that will continue to live on in the lives she touched. She will be deeply missed but never forgotten.

Dovey is survived by her only son, Joe Don Cooper and his wife, Lynn Cooper. Her three grandchildren, Jadyn Cooper (Matt Vicini), Charly Cooper (Cory Lackey) and Jaxon Cooper, whom were her pride and joy. She is also survived by her two brothers, Richard and Lee Roy Beam (Jean) and many cousins and extended family members whom she loved dearly. Dovey was preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Adelaide Beam, her sister, Lucille Forbes and her husband Guy Forbes, as well as her sister-in-law Diane Beam. Dovey was also preceded in death by her dear husband, Charles Cooper, who passed in 1999.

A graveside “event” for Dovey will be held in later May or early June at Tungsten Baptist Church Cemetery in Bullock, NC. Date and times for the service are currently pending.

Per Dovey’s request, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made directly to her grandchildren.

The Cooper family is under the care of Gentry-Newell and Vaughan Funeral Home. Online condolences: https://www.gnvfuneralhome.com – select obituaries.