Linda Kay Cooper was an American educator best known publicly as the first wife of football coach and broadcaster Jimmy Johnson. The couple married in 1963, had two sons, and ended their marriage after approximately 26 years. Cooper later married Roger Kent Aronson and died in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on October 6, 2003, at age 61.
Although online searches often treat Linda Kay Cooper like a celebrity biography subject, she lived mostly outside the public spotlight. The strongest information about her comes from her obituary and contemporary reporting about Johnson’s personal life. Those sources confirm several important facts, but they do not support many of the detailed claims repeated by entertainment websites.
| Fact | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Linda Kay Cooper |
| Born | January 17, 1942 |
| Birthplace | Marked Tree, Arkansas |
| Died | October 6, 2003, age 61 |
| Occupation | Retired educator |
| First husband | Jimmy Johnson |
| Later husband | Roger Kent Aronson |
| Children | W. Brent Johnson and Chad J. Johnson |
Her Dallas Morning News obituary and funeral home record identify her parents as Reginald Taft Cooper and Martha Virginia Dixon Cooper. They also describe her as a retired educator who taught in schools around the world. The obituary named Aronson as her husband at the time of her death and listed two sons, one granddaughter, and one surviving brother.
Why Linda Kay Cooper Became a Public Search Topic
Interest in Cooper comes mainly from Jimmy Johnson’s long career in college football, the NFL, and television. Johnson coached the University of Miami to a national championship before taking over the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. He later led Dallas to consecutive Super Bowl victories and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020.
That fame explains searches such as Linda Kay Cooper Jimmy Johnson, Jimmy Johnson wife Linda Kay Cooper, and Jimmy Johnson first wife Linda Kay Cooper. Cooper was not a television personality, sports executive, or public spokesperson. No reliable evidence suggests that she tried to build a public career through her former husband’s fame.
This distinction matters because some online profiles fill missing parts of her story with unsupported claims. A responsible account must separate documented information from details that have been copied between celebrity websites without original sourcing.
Early Life and Family Background
Cooper was born on January 17, 1942, in Marked Tree, Arkansas. Her obituary identifies her parents as Reginald Taft Cooper and Martha Virginia Dixon Cooper. It also says that her parents and sister, JoAnn Moody, died before her, while her brother, Teddy Neal Cooper, survived her.
Reliable public sources provide little additional information about her childhood. Some websites claim that she attended the University of Arkansas, but the sources reviewed for this article did not provide an alumni record, university profile, or another primary document confirming that claim.
Her education history should therefore be treated as publicly unverified. The absence of a detailed record is not unusual because she was a private individual rather than a public figure with an extensively documented career.
Her Career as an Educator
The clearest verified career fact is that Cooper was a retired educator. Both the Dallas Morning News notice and the funeral home obituary say that she taught in schools throughout the world. This supports the conclusion that her teaching career included international work.
The records do not identify the schools where she worked, the subjects she taught, or the specific dates of her employment. Claims that she taught in Venezuela appear on secondary biography websites, but that location was not confirmed by her obituary or another strong primary source.
There is also no reliable public estimate of her personal net worth. Websites assigning her a specific financial figure without tax documents, estate records, or attributed reporting are presenting speculation rather than verified information.
Her career still matters to her story. The obituary’s description shows that her life was not defined only by her marriage to a famous football coach.
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Marriage to Jimmy Johnson
Public biographical references commonly list July 12, 1963, as the wedding date for Jimmy Johnson and Linda Kay Cooper. They had two sons during their marriage. A 1999 Associated Press report, republished by CBS News, described the relationship as a 26-year marriage and said the couple split shortly after Johnson became head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989.
Their marriage covered most of Johnson’s rise through the coaching profession. During that period, he worked as an assistant coach, became head coach at Oklahoma State University, won a national championship at Miami, and entered the NFL with Dallas.
The public record confirms the timing of Johnson’s professional moves, but it does not document Cooper’s personal experience during each stage. There is no widely available interview in which she explains the marriage, discusses the demands of his coaching career, or provides her version of their separation.
Articles should therefore avoid claiming to know her private feelings or motives. Such claims would go beyond the available evidence.
When Did Jimmy Johnson and Linda Kay Cooper Divorce?
The most careful answer is that the couple separated in 1989 and their divorce is widely listed as final in January 1990. IMDb and several biographical databases give January 17, 1990, as the exact date. The contemporary Associated Press report says Johnson split from his first wife shortly after taking the Cowboys job, but it does not provide a court date.
Because no publicly accessible court record was found among the sources reviewed, January 17 should be described as a widely reported date rather than an independently verified legal date. This distinction is important when answering searches for Jimmy Johnson divorce Linda Kay Cooper date, Jimmy Johnson divorce date Linda Kay Cooper, and Jimmy Johnson divorce Linda Kay Cooper 1990.
The Associated Press also reported that Johnson told reporters he no longer needed the “social prop of a spouse.” The statement has been repeated frequently because it sounded unusually blunt, but the report provides little context about the divorce proceedings or Cooper’s response.
No reliable source reviewed here provides the settlement terms, property division, custody arrangements, or a full explanation from both sides. It would be misleading to assign one confirmed cause to the divorce.
Their Sons, Brent and Chad Johnson
The former couple had two sons. Cooper’s obituary names them as W. Brent Johnson and Chad J. Johnson. Brent was living in Redwood City, California, while Chad was living in Dallas at the time of her death. The obituary also listed a granddaughter named Lola Grace Johnson.
Some online articles connect the sons to particular businesses, political offices, or professional careers. However, Brent Johnson and Chad Johnson are common names. Without a dependable source directly connecting a specific public profile to Jimmy Johnson’s children, those claims create a risk of mistaken identity.
The verified information is that Cooper was the mother of Johnson’s two sons. More detailed claims about their current careers should not be presented without stronger documentation.
Life After the Divorce
The 2003 obituary identifies Roger Kent Aronson as Cooper’s husband when she died. This confirms that she remarried following her divorce from Jimmy Johnson.
The record does not say when she and Aronson married, how they met, or how long they were together. There is also little dependable reporting about her later years beyond her residence in Fayetteville, her retired educator status, and the family members named in her obituary.
That limited record reflects her life as a private citizen. She did not appear to use her previous marriage as a route into entertainment or sports media.
Linda Kay Cooper and Rhonda Rookmaaker
The names Rhonda Rookmaaker Linda Kay Cooper often appear together because both women were married to Jimmy Johnson at different times. Cooper was his first wife and the mother of his two sons. Rhonda Rookmaaker became Johnson’s second wife in July 1999, several years after his first marriage ended.
The two women should not be confused in photographs. Some articles discussing Cooper display public-event photographs of Johnson with Rookmaaker because clearly authenticated editorial pictures of his first wife are difficult to locate. One widely circulated secondary profile, for example, discusses Cooper while displaying photographs of Johnson and Rookmaaker.
Readers searching for Linda Kay Cooper pictures should check the caption, event date, and photo credit before identifying the woman shown. The funeral home obituary page contains an image associated with Cooper’s memorial record, but broadly circulated editorial photographs clearly identifying her remain scarce.
Is Linda Kay Cooper Still Alive?
No. Cooper died in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on October 6, 2003. She was 61 years old, having been born on January 17, 1942. Her memorial service was scheduled for October 18, 2003, at St. Catherine’s at Bell Gable in Fayetteville.
Searches for obituary Linda Kay Cooper Jimmy Johnson wife and Linda Kay Cooper Johnson obituary generally refer to the same verified notice. The obituary was published under the name Linda Kay Cooper rather than Linda Kay Johnson. It identified Roger Kent Aronson as her husband and listed Brent and Chad Johnson as her sons.
How Did Linda Kay Cooper Die?
No reliable public source reviewed for this article states her cause of death. Her obituary says only that she died in Fayetteville and suggests memorial donations to Washington Regional Hospice.
A request for donations to a hospice does not establish a particular illness, diagnosis, or cause of death. It would be improper to infer a medical condition from that information alone.
The accurate answer to how did Linda Kay Cooper die is that her cause of death was not publicly disclosed in the available obituary or funeral home record. Claims naming a disease or other medical condition remain unsupported.
What the Public Record Confirms
The available record confirms Cooper’s birth and death dates, Arkansas birthplace, work as an educator, two sons, later husband, and immediate family members. It also supports a long first marriage to Jimmy Johnson that ended around the time he began coaching the Dallas Cowboys.
Final Thoughts
Linda Kay Cooper is remembered publicly as Jimmy Johnson’s first wife, but the verified record also identifies her as an educator, mother, wife, and Arkansas native. She married Johnson in 1963, raised two sons, later married Roger Kent Aronson, and died in 2003.
The most reliable account avoids turning her privacy into speculation. Beyond the documented facts, responsible coverage should state clearly what remains unknown.
It does not confirm a detailed educational history, personal net worth, exact teaching locations, cause of death, divorce settlement, or private reasons for the marriage ending. Those limits reflect the fact that she was a private person whose life received only limited media coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Linda Kay Cooper?
She was a retired educator, Jimmy Johnson’s first wife, and the mother of his two sons.
When did she marry Jimmy Johnson?
Public biographical references list July 12, 1963, as their wedding date. Contemporary reporting described their marriage as lasting approximately 26 years.
When did Jimmy Johnson and his first wife divorce?
They separated in 1989, and the divorce is commonly listed as final in January 1990. January 17 is widely reported but was not independently confirmed through a public court record in the sources reviewed.
Is Linda Kay Cooper still alive?
No. She died on October 6, 2003, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at age 61.
What was her cause of death?
Her cause of death was not disclosed in the available obituary or funeral home record. Any specific medical claim remains unverified.
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