Businessman remembered as ‘New Mexico champion’

In southeastern New Mexico, Johnny Cope defined the term “mover and shaker.”

Cope, a longtime New Mexico businessman, died Dec. 13 in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 72.

No cause of death was listed in a news release sent on behalf of friends and family.

Cope’s business career was spent in southeastern New Mexico, where he owned an oil field service company and was involved in a variety of ventures related to the oil and gas industry.

He was a noted philanthropist and helped launch the Johnny and Marty Cope Learning Center in Ruidoso, which connects youth to the Smithsonian Institution. He also donated to the athletic programs at the University of New Mexico and Texas Tech University and was involved with youth sports in Hobbs, where he was raised.

Cope graduated from Hobbs High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from Eastern New Mexico University.

He is credited with helping land a number of economic projects in Lea County, including the Zia racetrack and a uranium enrichment facility.

“I am heartbroken over Johnny Cope’s passing as he was a dear friend and a champion for Hobbs and Southeast New Mexico,” Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement. “He served honorably as chair of the Transportation Commission

where he built roads and highways for the entire state. He was a true New Mexico champion and will be sorely missed. With his wife Marty, they were the foremost New Mexico power couple, always fighting for our state and our country.”

Cope served on a variety of state boards, including the New Mexico Transportation Commission. During his time there, he found controversy when the Albuquerque Journal reported he sent confidential documents to a company bidding on a major road project, according to the state Department of Transportation.

A family service is planned for a later date when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.