Hooper, Paul June 30, 2008

Paul passed away, at the family home, on June 30, 2008 after a short battle with cancer. Read Tribute He was born May 23, 1930 in Johnson, Washington, a small community in the Palouse. Paul was the youngest of nine children, of Fred William Hooper and Clara Evaline (Reed) Hooper. He and his siblings grew up around the grain elevators where his father was the elevator manager. Paul first years of schooling were spent in the one-room schoolhouse in Johnson. He then attended Pullman High School and entered WSC (WSU) in 1948. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, an Intercollegiate Knight, and was a member of ROTC. He graduated in Civil Engineering from WSU in 1953. Paul then joined the Army Corp of Engineers and served two years. After he completed his military duty, he attended Yale University for graduate studies in Transportation Engineering. Paul also served an additional 14 years in the Army reserves, achieving the rank of Major.
Paul, a professional Transportation Engineer, worked for the WSDOT and King County for 28 years. In 1985 he retired as the King County Road Engineer, responsible for the County’s road system. He was also an active member of the Institute of Traffic Engineers, as an international officer and the American Public Works Assoc. He found he couldn’t give up his love for his work and became a consultant for 10 years after his retirement, working on various special public works projects.
Paul met Sally Kaye Senn when she was visiting her aunt in Johnson, Washington, next door to where the Hooper family lived. They began to date in 1958 and were married in August 1959. After short time in Chehalis, they moved to Bellevue where they lived for 47 years. Most of this time was spent in Newport Hills.
Paul enjoyed being active and around people. He and Sally traveled worldwide with friends. They went on trips to Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the most enjoyable trips were the river trips through Europe. Paul enjoyed collecting stamps and collecting and displaying Nutcrackers and Santas. He was also interested in wine and he participated actively in the Seattle Wine Society, spending many years on the board of directors. Paul was a long-time supporter of Washington State University, from which all of his family graduated. Paul was a President’s Associate of the WSU Foundation. He enjoyed hours cultivating his flowers and feeding the neighborhood birds from his park-like yard. He also enjoyed reading mystery novels and spent hours working on crossword puzzles. When his boys started to participate in team sports Paul was a big supporter and decided to coach their teams. He worked with all three boys, spending hours coaching the neighborhood kids in Little League baseball and Newport Hills soccer. Paul also enjoyed umpiring Little League and participated in this up to the state tournament level. He was also a great fan for his boys as they continued sports in college and beyond. Paul made many good friends in the Cougar Baseball family while traveling to the many games he attended.
Paul is survived by his wife of 49 years, Sally, sons Todd (Martie), Craig (Jill), Jeff (Betsy), two brothers (Bill, John) and two sisters (Marguerite, Isabel), and 4 grandchildren; Johnna, Taylor, Kelly, and Clay. A Memorial Service will be held on July 13, 2008 at 2 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, 1717 Bellevue Way NE Bellevue, WA 98004.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be sent to the WSU FOUNDATION, PO Box 641927, Pullman, WA 99164-1927 or Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PO Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109