Mary-Alice “Cookie” Leaper, 88, of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 1, 2025.
She was born on September 7, 1936 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Robert G. Cooke and Helen Mullery Cooke. Cookie attended the Visitation School in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she met Percy. Cookie was an avid crossword puzzler and solitaire player. She enjoyed art, gardening, crafting, music, and knitting. Cookie volunteered over the years for the Cancer Society, The Medical Center at Princeton Auxiliary, the Princeton YWCA, and The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY. She was a longtime member of The Garden Club of Princeton in NJ and The Lake and Valley Garden Club in Cooperstown.
Known by all as Cookie, she was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. Her generosity of spirit was felt by her family and all her friends.
She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Percy Leaper, her children, Carrie Schmierer and her husband Tom, Scott Leaper and his wife Sue, and Laura Snook and her husband Paul, her grandchildren, Brian Schmierer, Megan Schmierer Anteparra, Connor Snook and his wife Lindsay, and Taylor Snook, her two great-grandchildren Sofia Anteparra and Emma Snook as well as her many friends.
A Celebration of Life with friends and family will be planned soon.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to Friends of Caroline Hospice in Ridgeland, SC, American Diabetes Association or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
