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Dell Dickins Scoper, 88, died in Laurel on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 after a brief illness. She was surrounded by family and friends as the transition was made to be with her Lord Jesus Christ. A funeral service will be at First Baptist Church in Laurel on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 2 p.m. followed by a graveside service at Lake Park Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. at Memory Chapel Funeral Home in Laurel. Additional visitation will take place immediately before the funeral at 1 p.m. at the church.

Dell Scoper will always be remembered as a person of deep faith that guided her commitment to service to others. Her enthusiasm was contagious as she rose to leadership roles in her church, community organizations, political campaigns and, especially, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was always proud of the accomplishments of her late husband, Sen. Vincent Scoper, and her children Dr. Stephen Vincent Scoper and Cynthia Scoper Folmar.

Born September 10, 1934, in Leland to John W. Dickins and Ruth Thompson Dickins, Dell was an outstanding student, becoming the 1952 valedictorian of Leland High School. She was a member of the Delta Debutante Club.

Dell matriculated to Mississippi College (MC) as a third-generation scholar following the footsteps of her father John W. Dickins and grandfather Dr. William B. Dickins. She was a leader at MC as an officer in student government, active on the debate team and editor of the MC Literary Magazine. An avid tennis player on the MC college team, she also taught tennis during the summers at Camp Gulf Park on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This is where she met her husband of 58 years Vince, on the tennis court. He was then ranked No. 1 on the Mississippi State University tennis team. The match evidently went well. 

Dell graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mississippi College in 1956. She was later inducted into the MC Hall of Fame, was president of the Mississippi College National Alumni Association and, more recently, endowed the Mississippi College Dickins–Scoper Baseball Stadium in honor of her father and grandfather, who were star baseball players at MC.

Dell and Vince were married in 1956 and made Laurel their permanent home in 1960. Dell hit the ground running in Laurel becoming active at her church, community organizations, the DAR and as Vince’s campaign manager. She organized door-to-door campaigns that were instrumental for winning elections that kept Sen. Scoper in office for 40 years; she (they) never lost an election. She was the vice-chairwoman of the Jones County Republican Party, president of the Jones County Federation of Republican Women and remained active in politics her entire life.

As a lifetime member of the Laurel Junior Auxiliary, she was honored to be the recipient of the 2002 Laurel Junior Auxiliary Humanitarian Award. She was also the recipient of the Service to Mankind Award from the Sertoma Club of Laurel. Dell served the United Way of the Pine Belt Region as president and as campaign chair. She was president of the Laurel Community Concert Association as well as vice-president of Women in the Arts in Mississippi. Dell loved the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art and served as the LRMA Guild president and president of the LRMA Docents. She served as president of the Bay Flower Garden Club and president of the Three Arts Literary Club.

In the 1980s, Dell was the first woman to serve on the Economic Development Authority of Jones County Board of Directors and remained active on the board for many years. She was then instrumental in starting Leadership Jones County, co-chairing the first Leadership class in 1990. She remained active with this initiative for decades.

Serving on building committees was an area of expertise. She was the chairwoman of the Building Committee for the Camp Garaywa Adult Lodge and the chairwoman of the committee to restore the United Way and Red Cross headquarters in downtown Laurel. She also enjoyed serving on the building committee for the Family Life Center at First Baptist Church.

Of all of Dell’s community service, her true love was the Daughters of the American Revolution. After years of service, she rose to the rank of Chaplain General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which is the third-highest office of the National Society.

Early on, Dell was an active member of the local Nahoula Chapter of the DAR and soon became the regent of this chapter. She was the state regent for the Mississippi DAR from 1998 to 2001. After chairing the fundraising committee and directing the building program, the highlight of her tenure as state regent was the dedication of the Scoper-Love Carriage House on the grounds of Rosalie Mansion in Natchez. She was soon elected as a vice-president general of the National Society and finally as the chaplain general of the NSDAR in 2004. She served many years on the Board of Trustees of the Kate Duncan Smith DAR School in Alabama as an appointee of the president general, NSDAR. She has remained active in the DAR on a local, statewide and national level.

In addition to the DAR, she was a member of The Order of the First Families of Mississippi, The Order of the First Families of Virginia, The Jamestowne Society, The Daughters of the War of 1812, The Colonial Dames XVII Century and the Colonial Dames of American Chapter XV.

Dell’s greatest passion was her faith and spreading the Gospel message through work at her church and other faith-based organizations. She was a student of the Bible, a gifted teacher and taught Sunday school continuously for 64 years. One of her greatest honors was to have her Sunday school class at First Baptist Church Laurel named the “Dell Scoper Ladies Sunday School Class” after she stepped down from teaching just a few years ago.

At First Baptist Laurel, Dell was always active in the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) and served on the Mississippi State WMU Executive Board.  She also served on the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board as well as the Executive Committee of this Board. On a statewide level, she served as the inaugural chairwoman of the Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer. In 1988, Dell was the chairwoman of the First Baptist Church Centennial Committee.

Dell Scoper was a dedicated wife and mother. She was the wife of the late state Sen. Vincent Gradie Scoper Jr.   She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law Dr. Stephen Vincent Scoper, MD, and Nancy Powell Scoper of Virginia Beach, Va.; her daughter and son-in-law Cynthia D. Scoper Folmar and David S. Folmar of Laurel; her sister and brother-in-law Dorothy Dickins O’Neill and Thomas R. O’Neill; six grandchildren, Elizabeth Scoper Heiss (Ryan Heiss), Julia B. Scoper, Gradie G. Folmar (Grazia C. Folmar), Stokes S. Folmar, Laurel D. Folmar and Tatum Folmar Brown (Kice Brown); great-grandchildren Charles Folmar and Nicolas Folmar; and seven nephews and nieces, John D. O’Neill, Jennifer O. Brammell, Scott G. Scoper, Genie Scoper Howard, Kristin Scoper Hopper, Wendy Scoper O’Connor and Shannon Scoper Keute.

Pallbearers will be David Folmar, Gradie Folmar, Stokes Folmar, John O’Neill, Scott Scoper and Terry Caves.  Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. Eric Lindstrom, Carey Hauenstein, Roy Ward and Bill Green.

A special thank you to Dell’s caregivers for their faithful service to the Scoper family — Cindy Thornton, Jo Ann Wages and Tresia Roddey.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the First Baptist Church of Laurel “Dell Scoper Ladies Sunday School Class” (www.fbclaurel.org, PO Box 2636, Laurel, MS  39442); Rosalie Mansion and Gardens, MSDAR (www.rosaliemansion.com, 100 Orleans St., Natchez, MS  39120); Lauren Rogers Museum of Art (www.lrma.org, 565 N. Fifth Ave., Laurel, MS 39440).

To sign the online guestbook, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

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