Victor L. VanHook

Col. Victor L. Van Hook

Vic Van Hook was born April 12, 1924, in Springfield, Missouri, and passed away June 23, 2012, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He was the first of five children born to William V. and Velda (Smith) Van Hook. Following high school graduation, Vic worked briefly for the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, before being recruited into the Army at age 18 to serve in World War II. During the war he was stationed in Germany where he earned a bronze star. After the war he joined the Oklahoma National Guard and retired as a colonel in 1980.

After the war, Vic attended Southwest Missouri State where he graduated with a double major in commerce and history in 1948. At SMS he met his future wife, Wanda (Murphy) Van Hook, and they were married in 1948. They had two daughters, Vicki L. Van Hook and Donna C. Kiplinger.

Vic taught business and English at Norwood High School in Missouri for three years before entering graduate school at Oklahoma A&M where he earned a master's degree in 1952. Vic also taught business and English at Stillwater High School for four years then became a four-state field representative for McGraw-Hill Books. In 1964 Vic joined the Oklahoma Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education where he rose to the position of State Supervisor of Business and Office Education and in 1986 he was named Deputy Director. He retired in 1988 and was inducted into the Career Tech Hall of Fame in 1999.

During his career at Vo-Tech, he served as special assistant to the associate commissioner of the Bureau of Adult Vocational & Technical Education in Washington, D.C, and worked with the American Vocation Association in 1974-75 on legislation to improve the Vocational Education Act of 1963. He also served as president of the American Vocational Association and was part of a U.S. delegation that studied vocational programs in the Soviet Union in 1975.

Vic was predeceased by his parents, two brothers, Kenneth Van Hook and Donald Van Hook, and one grandson, Jonathan Segura. He is survived by his wife and daughters and their families, Rory Segura, Pete Kiplinger, Scott Kiplinger, and his sister Carmelita Holloway (Phillip) of Kansas City and Jack Van Hook of Springfield, Missouri. He leaves behind a large number of nieces and nephews who always loved "Uncle Vic."

The funeral service will be in Missouri Veterans Cemetery,5201 S. Southwood, Springfield, MO 65804 on Thursday, June 28, 2012, at 1:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held in Stillwater at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requested donation are made to the Stillwater Area United Way, 109 E. Ninth Avenue, Stillwater, OK 74076, or the charrity of the donor's choice. Online condolences may be made at: www.greenlawnfuneralhome.com Arrangements have been entrusted to Greenlawn Funeral Home East, Springfield, MO.