Henry P. "Hank" Cops

Henry “Hank” Cops, Combined Locks, WI, age 84, passed away in peace after a short illness on January 6th, 2022.

Hank was born to the late Edmund and Theodora (Gietman) Cops on December 23, 1937. He was the tenth of eleven children and was born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. In 1948, the Cops family emigrated to Kimberly, WI.

Hank graduated from St. Mary High School in Menasha, WI and was employed at AT@T in Appleton and Cincinnati, Ohio. In the early 1970s, together with his brother Jerry, they started a new business, Cops Services in Kimberly which later moved to Kaukauna WI. After retiring, he was well known for generously sharing his home-made maple syrup and wonderful wine with friends and relatives.  He was a good wood splitter and good digger of earth, He enjoyed paying sheepshead, and tolerated no sloppy play. He was a good leader and a poor follower. Pretty good at basketball and pretty poor at golf. He wrote neatly in very small writing.

And believed anything could be written in one page maximum. The tools he valued most were the fingernail clipper and the wheelbarrow. Favorite of all – his wife.

On August 8, 1959, Hank was united in marriage to Joyce Linskens at St. Pius Catholic Church in Appleton, WI. They were blessed with 4 sons; James Cops, Tom (Monica) Cops, John (Amy) Cops, WI, and Ed Cops.

Hank is also survived by 12 grandchildren. Children of James: John, Anne, Mary, Catherine, Clare, and Tim.  Children of John (Amy): Sarah and Meghan. Children of Tom (Monica): Patrick, Mark (Mary Beth), Greg (Megan), Michael, Elena, Adriana.  Hank is survived by two great-granddaughters: Guadalupe (Mark and Mary Beth), and Cecilia (Greg and Megan).

Hank is survived by two brothers; Fr. Gus Cops, and Jerry Cops (Bernice), and by a sister Margie Young and sister-in-law Beverly Cops. Hank is also survived by Joyce’s sister Shirley Arens (Charles) Appleton, WI, along with numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Hank was preceded in death by his parents Edmund and Theodora Cops, and sisters and brother-in-laws Nelly and Mart Van Nuland, Mary and Peter (Bill) Havinga, Annie and Ken Schuh, Dorothy and Joseph Van Nuland, Josie and John Vincent and 2 brothers Fr. Peter Cops and Eddy Cops; and Joyce’s parents John and Gertrude Linskens, and Joyce’s brother Br. Daniel Linskens.

Visitation for Hank will be held from 9:00 am on Tuesday January 11^th at St. Paul’s Church, Combined Locks. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated shortly after, at 11:00 am St. Paul’s Church, 410 E. Wallace St., Combined Locks, WI. Family and friends may visit at the church from 9:00AM until the time of mass. Burial will be in St. Paul’s Catholic cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Cops Foundation or the charity of your choice is appreciated.

The family would like to thank all the exceptional doctors, nurses and other personnel at St Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, WI, for the excellent care they had provided to Hank.