Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon man killed in Saudi

The violence in the Middle East had a tragic impact on a Clark County family last week. Phillip Coplen, 54, a native of Gurdon, was killed in his

company's office in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

Coplen was an employee of a Houston-based company, ABB Lummus, and was vice president in administering the company's petroleum construction efforts in Saudi Arabia. According to information in news reports, attackers entered the oil contractor's office and killed six Westerners, including Coplen and another American.

Coplen's sister, Barbara Coplen, Arkadelphia city manager, said the gunmen were former company guards and had access to the office. She believes her brother may have been a victim because he was a vice president. "They killed my brother, who was one of the higher ups,' because their deaths would have a greater impact on the company."

Coplen described her brother's job in the company's construction projects.

"He goes in and sets up the job and then serves as one of the superintendents of the job." She said he had worked for the company for "a long, long time" in such places as Aruba, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

Phillip Coplen's job had taken him to other places where there was unrest

and danger for foreigners. He didn't worry much about that, Barbara Coplen said. Although other foreign workers had been killed in Saudi Arabia, she quoted an e-mail she received from her brother in February. "He said, I'm too damn old to worry now, and too fat to run. So I'll stick it out.'"

He had been in Saudi a year as of April, and would have been home for good in October. "He wanted to retire at 55, which he would have been next January," Barbara Coplen said. The job in Saudi Arabia paid very well, and was helping her brother toward his retirement. "He made $1,500 a day plus expenses," she said.

The attack occurred around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, and Brett Coplen, Phillip's son who lives in Houston, Texas, was notified in person by company officials about 8:15 a.m. that morning. Barbara Coplen said her nephew phoned her very shortly after that.

Mary Coplen Wingfield of Arkadelphia, Phillip and Barbara's mother, has been ill recently, and Barbara immediately contacted her other siblings. They gathered at their mother's to break the news to her. Barbara said her mother was doing "surprisingly well" by now, but had a rough time at first.

"She said, Why would God spare me, and take my son?'"

Barbara said she told her mother, "You've got so many other children. Don't question God's motives." With the family together at their mother's house, she said, "We're having our own memorial services." She said they've spent the weekend reminiscing, remembering good times and funny incidents.

One such incident involved Phillip's hospitalization in a Houston hospital.

"He called my sister, and he was crying," Barbara said. She, her sisters, Cynthia and Sherry, and their mother got in the car and drove down to Houston.

"We went into Phillip's room, and I said, Here's your mother to take care of you,'" she said with a laugh.

Another memory also involved Phillip's health. "Nancy (Phillip's wife, who lives in Houston) called. She said Phillip got sick on the plane from London, and was in the hospital in Cincinnati." He was on his way home for Christmas, Barbara said.

That was on Friday, and the situation changed rapidly. "On Saturday, he checked himself out of the hospital and was sitting in a wheelchair in the

Cincinnati airport. He's used to being in charge of things." She said he got home to Houston and then came to Arkadelphia during his Christmas visit.

She also remembered some rousing fights between her and her brother. "He was a Republican, and I'm a Democrat. We argued every time he came home."

Phillip Coplen was a graduate of Gurdon High School, his sister said. "We moved to Gurdon when I was in seventh grade." She's the middle child in the family. Their other siblings are: Robert Coplen and Charles Coplen of Gurdon, Cynthia Davis and Ruth Bridges of Arkadelphia, Mary Barfield of Nashville and Sherry Callison of Brown Springs. Phillip was the eldest son.

Phillip's wife is the former Nancy Eckert from Whelen Springs, and in

addition to his son Brett, he has a daughter, Julie Coldwell of Arkansas

City, Kan. Barbara said he will be buried in a cemetery near Sycamore

Baptist Church in Clark County.

Funeral arrangements will not be made until the family knows when Phillip Coplen will be brought home, Barbara said this morning. "The company's doing everything they can, but it could be as long as three weeks." She said the Saudi government is holding the process up with an investigation, but that the FBI is involved and that may facilitate his return.

The waiting is the hardest part, she said. "It's just so heartbreaking. It's

so hard to wait."

Despite their loss, the family knows that the Phillip made his own choices.

"My brother was a Christian man. He loved what he was doing. He wasn't doing anything he didn't want to do," Barbara said.

"I'm not bitter. I wish we were not in the position America is in now, but I

understand. I understand my brother had a choice. How many people from

Gurdon, Ark., get to travel all over the world and make $10,000 a month.

"He always knew how much we loved him, and we always knew how much he loved us."