MARIETTA - A well-connected Cobb source, who asked not to be named, confirmed to the Journal late Friday night that William "Bill" Cooper will announce his retirement Monday as president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.

Cooper is expected to make the surprise announcement Monday at the Chamber's monthly First Monday Breakfast.

Cooper has served as CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce since March 1, 1999. A Cobb Commissioner since 1991, Cooper resigned his west Cobb post and took early retirement from his job as a Delta Air Lines pilot and instructor to lead the chamber.

Born in Pasadena, Calif., in 1942, Cooper is a graduate of the University of California at Berkley with a degree in political science and international relations. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot.

Cooper has lived in Cobb County since 1988. He and his wife Diane live in Marietta and they have five children and 17 grandchildren. Cooper is an active member of the Marietta Kiwanis and serves on boards for the United Way in Cobb and the WellStar Foundation. He is a past chair of the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and serves on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Council.

He is a past participant in the Atlanta Regional Commission's Regional Leadership Institute and previously served on the Cobb County Convention & Visitors Bureau Board. He is active member on the advisory board for the Tommy Nobis Center. When contacted by the Journal late Friday, Marietta attorney Fred Bentley Jr., a former Chamber chairman, said he was not aware that there would be an announcement at Monday's breakfast.

Georgia Power Company CEO Mike Garrett will be speaking at the breakfast.

No other details on the announcement were available by press time.