Obituary of Pauline Edith Kopec

Pauline Cutchall Kopec, age 89 of Chapel Hill, NC, passed away peacefully on Friday May 15, 2020. Pauline was born January 22, 1931 in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. She loved Pennsylvania where her sister Evelyn, brother-in-law Victor Gobin and four nieces Penny, Kathy, Vickie and Valerie continue to live.  When referring to Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Mountains, Pauline would get a distant look in her eyes and reference them as “her mountains”.

Pauline received a business degree from Shippensburg University, where she met her lifelong love Richard Kopec.  They were married for 68 inseparable years. Pauline was a long time resident of Chapel Hill, NC. During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, she owned and managed the Country Craft Shop in Chapel Hill and Carrboro where she taught weaving and the art of natural dyeing.  She later established and then became the President of the North Carolina Weavers Guild.  Pauline eventually took a position with the University of North Carolina and retired from the School of Public Health. 

Pauline was a passionate sailor, competitive tennis player, insatiable reader and gardener.  One of her fondest memories, and one that she spoke of often, was of sailing the waters off the North Carolina Coast and the Chesapeake Bay area with her husband Richard on their sailboat the Absaroka.

She is predeceased in death by her husband Richard Kopec and her son Geoffrey Kopec. She is survived by her son Douglas Kopec and his wife Barbara Campbell of Chapel Hill, her daughter Pamela Grimball, grandchildren Rafe Grimball, Garth Grimball, Dillon Kopec, Mackenzie Kopec and great-grandson Caden Grimball.

Pauline touched many lives with her generosity and passion for life. She is loved and will be deeply missed by her family, friends and all who knew her.

A service is not scheduled at this time.

The Kopec family is under the care of Walker’s Funeral Home of Chapel Hill.  www.walkersfuneralservice.com.