Stephen C. Copps, Sr. M.D.

Stephen C Copps Sr. M.D. died peacefully on December 11 at his beloved Gundersen Medical Center after a short hospitalization following a heart attack. Steve was born to Clinton and Sarah Copps on April 22, 1930. At 4 pounds, 4 ounces, he started small, but this only belied the enormous personality that would come to define him.

Steve lived the majority of his life, including the past six years, here in La Crosse. He was born in Stevens Point, WI, where he attended public school through 9th grade. For the remainder of high school, he attended Shattuck in Faribault, MN. From there he attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He set forth with aspirations of becoming a doctor and of playing guard for the Badgers. Fortunately for all of us, the former of these dreams was ultimately realized. The latter, at 5’11” 180 pounds, sadly never came to pass. He was able to say proudly that he was a Badger, but only for six bone-jarring weeks.

An avid skier, Steve, now Dr. Copps, obtained his medical degree from the University of Colorado in Denver, and then eventually went on to complete a Pediatrics residency in Denver. In the interim, Dr. Copps served our country as an Army 2nd Lieutenant stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1961 he accepted a position on the Pediatrics staff at the Gundersen Clinic, and promptly set to enriching this community in countless ways.

Dr. Copps was a tireless advocate for children and their families. He touched so many lives in, and well beyond, the Coulee Region, and many of you reading this are likely beneficiaries of his absolute dedication to making this community a better place. Dr. Copps had a particular affinity for children with special needs and learning disabilities, a calling which prompted him to found the Gundersen Comprehensive Childcare Center. He was widely recognized for his outstanding contributions to pediatric and developmental medicine and received numerous accolades from state and national organizations. His ultimate reward, however, was not in the plaque or certificate, but in the grateful tears of the mother who finally had an answer for her son’s unusual symptoms; the father who could now understand how to best communicate with his autistic daughter; the teacher who could finally help her hyperactive student to attend in class; and the teenager who could finally read despite years of unrecognized dyslexia.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Copps went on to specialize in attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and authored one of the few definitive texts on the subject at the time. In 1992 he retired from Gundersen and became the Director of the Institute for Developmental Medicine and an associate professor at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. There he continued to care for children with developmental disabilities, as well as both children and adults with attention disorders. He lectured nationally and internationally on attention disorders and travelled as far as South Africa to share his expertise. He was a tremendous voice for progress and change in the Middle Georgia developmental disabilities community, and his impact is still felt today.

After 20 years in Georgia, he finally retired from clinical practice, and feeling the ever-present pull of God’s Country, returned to La Crosse. He was so very happy to be back in this community, and to have the opportunity to rekindle old relationships with friends and colleagues. He was also happy to be back in the Gundersen fold, as it was his (perhaps slightly biased) opinion that his hospital offered the best medical care in the world.

Papa Steve was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. His kindness and caring, coupled with his indomitable spirit and joie de vivre, made an indelible effect on all of our lives, and we were very lucky to have him as the patriarch of our multifaceted family. Dr. Copps was preceded in death by his parents, brother Don, daughter Kathy, and second wife Patricia. He is survived by his wife Edna, sons Chris, Greg, and Steve, step-sons Timothy Atkinson and Frank Copeland, step-daughters Cynthia Fleishman, Erin Krebsbach, Anne Copeland Scott, and his first wife Joan Polhemus.

Visitation will be at the Schumacher-Kish Funeral Home in La Crosse on Monday December 17 from 6-9 PM. Funeral services will take place on Tuesday December 18 at 11 AM at Christ Episcopal Church, presided over by Father Patrick Augustine. There will be a brief reception to follow. In lieu of flowers please make a memorial donation to the Gundersen Medical Foundation at https://foundation.gundersenhealth.org , or to the Christ Episcopal Church.