Cooper-Ojeda wedding to honor Hebron Academy co-founder

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TO BE WED  —   Patricia Cooper and her fiancé Alfred Ojeda, from California. The couple plans to marry at the Hebron Community Baptist Church on September 20. Cooper is the fourth great granddaughter of Hebron Academy co-founder, Reverend John Tripp. 

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IN MEMORIAM —   A stained glass window at the front of the Hebron Community Baptist Church reads "In Memoriam – Rev. John Tripp." Tripp preached at the church for 49 years. 

HEBRON —   The fourth great granddaughter of The Reverend John Tripp, co-founder of Hebron Academy, is getting married at the Hebron Community Baptist Church on September 20. 

"It means a lot to me," said Patricia Cooper, of being married in the church. "I'm excited." 

Patricia and her fiancé Alfred Ojeda, both from California, will fly to Maine next week to exchange vows. The couple has been together for 12 years. 

According to Patricia, in the fall of 2010 while visiting her father, Doug Cooper and his wife, Nancy, from Norway, she immediately fell in love with the church, located on the Hebron Academy campus.

"I thought it was beautiful," Patricia said. Plus, she wanted to have a wedding with foliage, which she can't have in California. 

According to her father, the ceremony is taking place at the former Hebron Baptist Church, the same church where Tripp became permanent pastor in 1798.

Tripp was also a co-founder of Hebron Academy in 1804 and the Secretary of the Board of Trustees until his death in 1847, he said. 

"We decided we would get married when the time was right," said Patricia of her fiancé. 

"He asked me previously to marry him and I said 'no,'" she said. "It wasn't that I didn't love him ... it was that I didn't have a location where I wanted to get married and felt a tie to." 

One reason she chose the church, she said, is that she and her father share a love for family genealogy – while she has researched her mother's side, her father researched his side.

During her visit in 2010, she ended up learning more about his side of the family –  the Tripps. 

"My parents gave us the local tour of the countryside," said Patricia. 

"Included in the tour was my fourth great grandfather Reverend John Tripp's homestead, approximately one mile from the church. I fell in love with the church and said if I ever got married, it'd be here at this church." 

Patricia said the wedding will be small and will include the couple's four adult children, who live in California, and her parents. 

According to Patricia, her wedding is not meant to be about how many people are in attendance – "It [is] about the moment," she said. 

"Driving up to the white steeple church was beautiful with the brilliant fall foliage in bloom, it was like looking at a picture," she explained. 

According to Patricia, she said she felt "honored and excited" walking inside of the church knowing her great grandfather once preached to the community, led weddings and funerals there over 210 years ago. 

She also liked that the church has many large stained glass windows, particularly one at the front of the church, which says, "In Memoriam – Rev. John Tripp." 

On the other side of the window, she said, in the cemetery is his headstone, which explains he was a soldier of the Revolution and a descendant of John Alder. 

"My great grandfather had done and seen so much in his lifetime that I wished I could have known him personally," said Patricia.

Patricia said marrying in the Hebron church is important to her, as it is the only place in existence she has roots to. 

Her wedding will be unique in that she will carry her Casablanca lilies in a Tussy Mussy, she said. According to Patricia, her flowers symbolize "celebration." 

A Tussy Mussy is a Victorian-style, cone-shaped vase traditionally made of silver and specifically designed to be carried in weddings. 

Patricia said she bought hers with a stand, because she plans on using it even after the wedding. She didn't want to end up stowing it away, where she could possibly forget about it, she said.  

She will also follow the saying, "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue," she said. 

Something old – her grandmother's ring – something borrowed – a shawl – something blue – blue ribbons on flowers – and a sixpence in her shoe, which symbolizes good luck and fortune. 

Patricia said when Reverend Tripp used to lead weddings, the bride would have a sixpence in her shoe. She, too, wanted one so she tried to obtain one with a year that would somehow represent Tripp's life, but couldn't find one.

"I ended up deciding to order it and just be happy," she said. When it arrived in the mail, however, she noticed the coin had her very own birth year. 

"It gave me chills!" 

Patricia said she feels getting married at the church where her fourth great grandfather preached at for 49 years is truly meant to be.

She feels that it will be a great picture to treasure. 

"How many people can say they got married in their fourth great grandfather's church and in attendance was ... the third great grandson, my father and fifth great grandchildren, my daughter and son?" 

Photo: Kayla Collins

The Hebron Community Baptist Church.