Ida Lee “Dixie” Cooper Arneach, 96, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on April 6, 2020. Dixie was a resident of the Wolfetown Community and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, North Carolina.
Dixie is preceded in death by her husband, Newman Arneach, former Vice Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; her parents, Arnold and Myrtle K. Cooper; brother, James Cooper; sisters, Frances Collins, Jessie Clement, and Barbara Strickland; and, half siblings, Charles Hornbuckle and Lottie Hornbuckle Mason.
She was the matriarch of a five-generation family. She is survived by her children, Carolyn Queen, Ralph Henry (wife Joan), Sarah “Tami” Hogner (husband David); and stepson, Lloyd Arneach Sr.; seven grandchildren, Carmen Q. Bryant (Carlos) and Stuart Queen (Karen), Terri Henry, Jessica Hogner (Marquis), Aaron Hogner (Terri), Lloyd K. Arneach (Terri), and Dawn Arneach; 10 great-grandchildren – Matthew, Andrew, Zachery Bryant and Holly B. Blankenship; Jayce and Lexi Daniels, and Em’Ree Dickson; Tyce, Zakya and Lyric Hogner; William, Samuel, and Sandra Arneach; Cheyenne Arneach, and Landon French; and, four great-great-grandchildren.
Surviving siblings are Wilma Morris, Candler Cooper, Sue Owle, and Robert Cooper; and special friend and caretaker, Denise Wolfe.
Dixie was the great grand-daughter of Ulrich Keener, the first Methodist Missionary to the Cherokees. She graduated from the Cherokee Indian Boarding School. She supported the World War II effort working at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn., before moving back to North Carolina where she worked for 35 years at Dayco in Hazelwood. Dixie and her husband were the proud owners/managers of the Lost Cove Campground on Soco Mountain. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Dixie was an avid local historian and she loved to square dance. She loved her extended family and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial to honor her life will be planned for a later date due to the coronavirus-stay at home restrictions.
Long House Funeral Home assisted with arrangements.