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Retired Brig. Gen. Stephen Koper, the association president from 2004 to 2009, died Friday. He was 84.
Koper spent 32 years in uniform, all of it in the Ohio Air National Guard. Before retiring in 1996, he led the first Ohio Air Guard visit to the Republic of Hungary, the state’s State Partnership Program partner.
During his time at NGAUS, the association secured congressional approval of low-cost TRICARE Reserve Select medical coverage for most drill-status Guardsmen.
Koper also launched the effort to correct an oversight in the original language of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Initially, it did not include benefits for those serving on active duty during the Global War on Terrorism in a Title 32 status service.
And he was at association’s controls when Congress approved a fourth star for National Guard Bureau chief.
Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the current NGAUS president, began his 15 years on the association board near the end of Koper’s time in the position.
“He was a tireless, passionate advocate for the National Guard in the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia,” McGinn said. “He was a great role model for all of us who have had the privilege of following him.”
Koper was also a member of the National Guard Educational Foundation’s Legion de Lafayette, which is reserved for large benefactors of the foundation, McGinn noted.
Before coming to NGAUS, he served as executive director of the Ohio National Guard Association from 1995 to 2004 and as president of the National Guard Executive Directors Association in 2000.
In 2006, he received the Colonel James F. Gamble Award, NGEDA’s highest honor for support
of the member states and activities.
Also successful in business, he was the president of S. K. Graphics Inc., a print consulting and brokerage firm. He also did a stint as a director and subsequently chairman of the Printing Industries Association of Southern Ohio.
—By John Goheen
