‘One of the good guys’

Former CDA Councilman Chris Copstead dies at 71

Chris Copstead, who served eight years on the Coeur d’Alene City Council, died Monday after a long battle with leukemia and complications from COVID-19.

He was 71.

“Chris had the heart of a lion and was a strong advocate for trails, parks and recreation,” wrote Mike Gridley, Coeur d’Alene city attorney. “Coeur d’Alene would not have the great trail system that we enjoy today without the efforts of Chris and his peers. He was a good man and I’ll miss his quick smile and sense of humor.”

Gridley and Copstead put in many miles together on bikes.

“He was an excellent council member who was not afraid to speak up but who also was a team player,” Gridley said. “I can picture Chris somewhere in Heaven leading a paceline of cyclists saying, ‘Come on let’s go faster.’”

Copstead was a planning commissioner before being elected to the council in 1996 and re-elected in 2000. He lost his bid for re-election in 2004.

Copstead completed the full 2007 Ironman Coeur d’Alene, an event he helped bring to the city in 2003. He was known for his infectious smile, commitment to family, community service, being an astute businessman and his preparation on the City Council, but also for his courage. Not only did he fight leukemia, but he stood by his wife Debbie’s side and cared for her as she fought Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” before passing away in 2009.

Coeur d’Alene Councilwoman Kiki Miller knew Copstead for more than three decades.

“I first met Chris when he was at the Inkwell. If you sold an ad to Chris Copstead it was like the holy grail of advertising achievements!” she wrote. “He was organized, a super salesman and you better know your stuff or else.”

The two became good friends.

“We had many great memories as he managed North Idaho Publications, although I drove him crazy because my office was not organized well enough and I scribbled notes instead of detailed documentation of every conversation,” Miller wrote. “He was the tidiest, compulsively organized, high-energy person I’ve worked with.”

Copstead took pride in his many business roles, including being the director of marketing for Bee Hive Homes.

On his LinkedIn page, he wrote:

“I consider myself an individual who has achieved success in business, in leadership and my strong belief in service and active participation within my community. My work ethics are solid and I truly care about people and will work the hours and time needed to do what’s best for both my company and our client.”

Doug Eastwood, former city parks director, was also close friends with Copstead, their friendship stretching back to the 1980s when they were members of the Panhandle Kiwanis Club.

It was Eastwood who convinced Copstead to take up cycling, which he did with passion.

“We rode in organized rides in the spring to the fall. All over the Pacific Northwest and Canada. A two-day, 200-mile, bike ride became common,” Eastwood wrote. “When we were not riding in organized rides we were setting a course for local rides on weekends with more of our friends, and taking in 50 to 100 miles on a ride.”

He estimated they rode about 4,000 miles a year, and rode for the better part of 20 years.

Eastwood considered Copstead someone who made a difference by encouraging others.

“I am saddened by the loss of my friend, but I am also thankful and appreciative of everything he has done and the memories he left us with,” Eastwood said. “Our community is a better place because of his involvement, and for those of us that knew him, our lives are forever enriched.”

Councilman Woody McEvers served with Copstead, calling him a “mover and a shaker” who consistently worked hard to get things done.

“He always took the high road,” McEvers said.

But there is one story about Copstead that makes McEvers laugh, still today.

He said in the early 2000s Copstead proposed a law that cats had to be leashed when they went outside. Needless to say, it didn’t get far, but his fellow council members and others never let him forget it.

“Every time I think of Chris, I think, ‘He was the guy who tried to make it so cats would have to be on leashes,’” McEvers said.

For a time, he said Copstead was even referred to as “the cat guy.”

But seriously, he said Copstead was just trying to do the right thing, represent the people, when approached with what some saw as a problem with cats running loose all over town.

“I loved the fact he was trying to come up with a solution,” McEvers said.

Former councilwoman Dixie Reid also served with Copstead. She said they worked together on bringing a substance abuse speaker to Coeur d’Alene who spoke to thousands of youth. It had an impact, she said.

“He had the best interests of Coeur d’Alene at heart,” Reid said.

Reid, too, chuckled as she recounted Copstead’s efforts to push through that much-maligned cat law.

“We all got a laugh and never let him forget it,” she said.

But Copstead didn’t mind and laughed along with them.

“He was one of the good guys,” Reid said.