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Faye Della Copeland

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Faye Della Copeland (Wilson) (1921 - 2003)

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas, United States
Death: December 23, 2003 (82)
Chillicothe, Livingston County, Missouri, United States
Place of Burial: Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, United States
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Rufus Eugene Wilson and Gladys H. Wilson-Speed (Beaver)
Wife of Ray W. Copeland
Mother of Private; Billy Ray Copeland; Private; Alvia "Al" Copeland; Private and 2 others
Sister of Private; Private; Private; Private; Private and 1 other

Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:
view all 17

Immediate Family

About Faye Della Copeland

Ray Copeland (December 30, 1914 – October 19, 1993) and Faye Della Wilson Copeland (August 4, 1921 – December 23, 2003) became, at the ages of 76 and 69 respectively, the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States. They were convicted of killing five drifters at their farm in Missouri. When her sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1999, Faye Copeland was the oldest woman on death row.

On August 10, 2002, Faye Copeland suffered a stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Weeks later, in September 2002, Governor Holden authorized a medical parole for Faye, fulfilling her one wish that she not die in prison. She was paroled to a nursing home in her hometown. The following year, on December 30, 2003, 82-year-old Faye Della Copeland died at the Morningside Center nursing home in Chillicothe, Missouri, from what Livingston County coroner Scott Lindley described as natural causes (disease). She left behind five children, seventeen grandchildren, and (at last count) twenty-five great-grandchildren.

Ashes scattered in Mooresville

view all 11

Faye Della Copeland's Timeline

1921
August 4, 1921
Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas, United States
1943
June 4, 1943
Arkansas, United States
1947
October 23, 1947
Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas, United States
2003
December 23, 2003
Age 82
Chillicothe, Livingston County, Missouri, United States
December 28, 2003
Age 82
Forest Grove Cemetery, Lamar, Barton County, Missouri, United States