Rebecca Loper Obituary (1967

She was born in Bogota On the 1st of March 1967 in Colombia, to career missionary parents Larry & Merldine, Rebecca Ann Cardoza was born. She was the 4th daughter in the Cardoza home following Laurie, Gail, and Diane. After her, a son finally and belatedly arrived to the Cardoza family: John. Becky learned both English and Spanish at the same time as she grew up. As she was want to put it, if you wanted to play with the other kids on the street you had to know what to say and how to say it. Becky and her siblings, as did missionary kids from many other denominations, attended boarding school in Quito, Ecuador. She was there for most of her grades 1-12 education. She graduated from Alliance Academy in 1985 at which time she left for England for a year of Bible College at Capernwray Hall in the beautiful Lake District of Lancashire. The friendships and photo albums of those years are legendary. Just ask Jacco Danielse -- with whom she has maintained a close friendship since Junior High & despite his living in Holland since then. Or ask Becky Sawyer-Sidwell -- with whom a fast friendship has been enjoyed since their dorm days as third grade roommates! Or Catherine Gray-Slocum, also from the dorm. After high school and Bible College Becky went on to nursing school at Seattle Pacific University and upon graduation with her BSN and licensing as an RN she moved to Fort Worth to begin her years of service as a nurse with the US Air Force. It was in Fort Worth where she met Tracy and on the 13th of June 1992 she became known as Rebecca Loper at Broadway Baptist Church. Thus began 30 years of married life. After much searching, Rebecca and Tracy made their journey together to the Orthodox Christian Church. They were chrismated by Bishop Basil Essey at St. Peter's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Fort Worth on the 24th of September 1995. During the following 27 years, she grew in the joy of the Church. It was through the ministries of teaching and healing that she became a beloved and much-sought-after teacher of children on Sundays and provided comfort & care to the suffering & dying through St. Elizabeth's ministry at St. Anthony in Tulsa. Becky knew the joy of the Orthodox East and lived that joyful life through the seasons of feasts and fasts and the prayers and hymns of the Church. Until recently she was a faithful member of the choir here at St. James. It should be noted that Becky was particularly fond of the Jesus Prayer and the Psalms. These were daily sources of strength and spiritual comfort & healing, especially in the past several months. On the 25th of July 1996 Becky gave birth to their first son, Antonio, 4 weeks before the long trek to medical school for Tracy. Then in the seemingly longer trek of Tracy's first year of residency as an intern at OU-Tulsa, on the 17th of May 2002, Becky gave birth to Nicholas. Truer joys than those two boys have never been known! After 12 years of work as a nurse, Becky gave up full time nursing to finish raising sons. She lived to see Antonio make it to Eagle Scout, graduate with honors from Oklahoma State University's Honors College, then enter medical school at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa; he recently began his 4th and final year there. As for Nicholas, she watched and encouraged as he developed his increasingly creative and artistic talents in acting, screenwriting, filming, and directing and saw him enter John Brown University last year and thrive there, where he is now a sophomore. Both Antonio & Nicholas are each in their own right accomplished musicians. Again, no truer joys than those two boys! After 6-1/2 years of fighting and struggling with cancer, the fight has finished and the struggle has succeeded. As the Apostle Paul explained to the Corinthian church, "The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." (I Corinthians 15:26) On Friday the 21st of October 2022 Rebecca Ann Loper entered into her eternal rest, passing from life to LIFE! She is preceded in death by: - GPs Hazel Tappin & Frank Cardoza - GPs Ruth & Merle Griffin - father Larry Cardoza - sister Gail Burroughs - niece Stephanie Loper - uncle Don Cardoza She is survived by: - husband Tracy Loper - sons Antonio & Nicholas Loper - mother Merldine Cardoza - sister Laurie Smith & husband Mark - sister Diane Rojas & husband Jairo - brother John & wife Gloria - B-in-law Rixie Burroughs & wife Brenda - parents-in-law Joe & Jeannette Loper - brother-in-law Dean Loper & wife Deborah - brother-in-law Glen Loper - sister-in-law Janine & husband Tim - many beloved extended family members - & many great & wonderful friends