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THOMAS HOOPER Obituary
Tom passed away at his home in Cambridge, Ma on May 25. He was 76 years old.Tom grew up in Westborough and Needham. He attended Harvard College where he captained the varsity football team and graduated in 1958 with a BA, Magna Cum Laude, in English and later received a MA in English at the University of Michigan. Using Howard Gardner's model for learning he taught English for 33 years at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School. After retirement he taught at Quinsigamond and Bunker Hill Community Colleges and the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. Tom lived in Harvard, Ma for 32 years and moved into Cambridge with his wife of 40 years, Mimi (Antonelli). He is survived by his wife, his son Thomas Joseph Hooper of Washington, DC, his stepdaughter, Alexandra Athos Evans of Harvard and three grandchildren, Nicholas Alexander Evans, Gwyneth Elyse Evans and Thomas Day Hooper. A memorial service followed by a reception will be held at the Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge on Sunday, June 9 at 4:00. His former students, friends, colleagues and family are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, tax deductible donations may be made in his honor to the Bunker Hill Community College Foundation. Checks may be mailed to Bunker Hill Community College Foundation, attention Kristen Brouker, Bunker Hill Community College, C202, 250 Rutherford Avenue, Boston, Ma 02129.
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Memories and Condolences
for THOMAS HOOPER
Rhoada Wald
May 20, 2021
He was a wonderful teacher. I took several courses with him at HILR and loved them all. He had his own style which was both erudite and compassionate. He added much to the special quality of HILR.
Julie Cotton-Desjardin
July 19, 2013
I was a student of Mr. Hooper at LSRSH between 1975-1979. His classes were my favorite of them all. He taught me the love of books.
Me in front of LSRHS 1970
Annie Danese-Thomassen
July 8, 2013
Hoop was a great teacher and guy. He inspired and empowered his students, which I was one of, to reach for the stars. I graduated in 1971.
Douglas Keenan
June 4, 2013
I ran into a complete stranger a few days back in Winchester, MA. As we talked we discovered we both had attended LSRHS, I was in the class of ' 71 and she was of ' 82. We were discussing the various teachers and most were still there in 1982. I was trying to remember one of my English teachers and all I could envision was a great big SMILE! It was Mr. Hooper,we called him Mr. Hoops and he smiled every time! I am so sorry for your loss, my prayers are with you.
Doug Keenan LSRHS '71
Ellen Phinney-Kipfer
June 4, 2013
Dear Mimi, I loved him... he inspired me. He was so young when we knew him and meant so much at the time. I'm forever grateful for having shared a tiny sliver of his life. God speed, Mr Hooper. God bless, Mimi.
June 4, 2013
I remember Tom Well. He was liked by all the students. He will nbe missed by all.
Tom Ellis class of 1971
Shirley Stahl
June 4, 2013
Tom was East Hall Director at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in the '70s/'80s. He was a strong leader and a worthy role model for teenagers.
Laura Matusek
June 2, 2013
Tom Hooper was one of my favorite people on the planet. He loved Auntie Mimi and his family, and most of all he loved to teach and to learn. I will never forget his kindness and encouragement as I worked to complete my college degree, which at times was not easy. Tom was also the one who fostered my love of reading, and sent me books when I was a young girl. My favorite memory is dancing the night away with Tom. Sending my love to Auntie Mimi, Tom and Andra.
Laura
May 31, 2013
Dear Mimi,
I am so so sorry to hear about Tom. As you know, I loved him dearly. Words cannot….
He was the most vibrant man I have ever met: an incredibly gifted reader and teacher. Amazingly kind.
I took every course he gave, even if I didn't much like the writer. He caught everyone's interest. I am heartbroken that he is gone from my life, from all of our lives. Most of all for you.
You were such a delicious couple, so wonderfully matched. I keep seeing you both at the end of the table as he talked about you sitting on his lap long ago. How hard this must have been for you, how hard it will be.
With love and sympathy,
Pat
May 31, 2013
What a wonderful man and teacher. He made me love American poetry. All impressions and comments were welcome. I was privileged to know him. Deep sympathy to Mimi and his family. Ann Wyman
May 31, 2013
On May 25, I was passing through Harvard, and had an urge to stop in and see Tom - not knowing that he and Mimi
no longer lived there. . .I am
in grief and shock to know
he was dying as I was thinking of dropping in to see him... He wasn't supposed to die - not Tom, whom I always looked up to as embodying the best qualities of friendliness,
intelligence, humor, integrity, and professional
excellence that are, themselves, timeless... I've missed him in recent years, and he is irreplaceable.
Dick Davis (L-S, 1974-91)
G Sweeney
May 30, 2013
I'll Remember You Always
Rarely does someone
get to influence a person's life
in a positive way
for a lifetime,
as a teacher can,
fostering optimism and confidence,
providing knowledge that leads to success,
and being a good role model,
as you have,
and you are,
and you will...
forever.
I'll remember you always.
Thank you.
G.Sweeney
May 30, 2013
Very sad to hear of Tom's passing.
Best wishes,
Harry Ostrander
Harvard Class of '58
May 30, 2013
I'm so sad, Mimi, to hear of Tom's passing. His courage and yours in support of his battle with illness are inspiring.
It was a privilege to know Tom and to have the chance to be his student. He was a warm and friendly man, understated, modest in his achievements, filled with good humor and wisdom. We will alll miss him. Michael Bennett
Carol Walters
May 30, 2013
I knew you only briefly at HILR but enjoyed every minute of your class. You will be missed.
Carol Walters
JEFF ALLAN
May 30, 2013
Mimi, I am so sorry for your loss. Having lost my Mom last year, I cannot imagine what it is like to lose your Spouse. Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you. With great sadness, Jeff
Jeff Allan, HILR
May 30, 2013
Dear Mimi and Family,
I was so saddened to hear about Tom's death; please accept my heartfelt sympathy. I took several of Tom's classes at HILR, and thot' he wa a gifted teacher. He had an ebullient spirit that will remain with all the lives that he has touched. All My Best, Susan Rotello Friedman
Kim & Jane Matusek
May 29, 2013
Jane and I will always appreciate the concern and encouragement Tom gave Laura as she worked her way toward her degree. I'm sure he's still leaning down from heaven whispering advice into his students' ears. He'll be missed by his many friends.
Lori Catallozzi
May 29, 2013
Tom will be sadly missed by his colleagues and students at Bunker Hill Community College. Our thoughts are with you.
May 28, 2013
Dear Mimi and Family,
Just recently we met by chance at the screening of "Rigoletto." I will remember Tom, as he looked that day and as I knew him from L-S, an energetic, honest and dedicated teacher who cared as deeply about his own students as about our teaching profession. He will be greatly missed.
Karin Flynn and Family
Steve Roderick
May 28, 2013
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters.”
? Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Tom, with his clear sense of connection to the essentials of life, will be truly missed.
Steve Roderick
Sheila Butler
May 28, 2013
Dear Mimi and family,
Was certain I saw Tom yesterday at Memorial Day parade, doing his daily walk -- that distinctive gait (from Harvard football?) and handsome visage. Always ran into him at the elevator on our floor; we'd trade observances. Those wry things he'd say, with his broad grin. I keep looking down the hall, as usual, when waiting for the elevator...then realize he's already taken it, and to a better place. May he rest in peace. XO
May 28, 2013
Steven Roderick
May 27, 2013
Dear Mimi and family
We've always enjoyed our chance encounters and planned visits with you and Tom, our friends and neighbors at #19 Garden Street. Tom's magnetism, warm smile and friendship will be greatly missed.
Sincerest condolences,
Marianne and Don
May 27, 2013
Dear Mimi- I don't know if you remember me from NHS, but Tom was also a classmate of my flyfishing husband's at Harvard. We have just reread his poem in the class report of this year and were once again moved by it. Our deepest sympathy to you and your family.
Louise Oncley August
May 27, 2013
So sad to hear about Tom. He will be missed by everone who had the pleasure of knowing him. My heart goes out to Aunt Mimi, Tommy,Andra and the family.
May 27, 2013
A lifelong learner and devoted teacher. A warm and giving presence in my life for many years. An innovator and one who did not "go gentle" into anything. You will be missed. Dani Weisse
Dave Clapp
May 27, 2013
Very sad to hear about Tom's passing. Having lived in Harvard, MA and taught at LS with Tom, played poker and occasional golf as well, I always appreciated Tom's love and commitment to a fine blend of the pleasures of life as well as of the mind. I had always wished I had fly-fished with him, one of his great passions--and I could have learned a thing or two for sure. My son loved his English class and good humor. There's a hole in the extended LSRHS community with his absence.
May 27, 2013
Dear Mimi
Audrey and I send our warmest thoughts and our condoleces. Dave Levington
Min-Hwa Kennard
May 27, 2013
Tom introduced me to the world of Robert Frost, Emily Dickenson, Wallace Stevens... A greet teacher, a lovable person. It's unbelievable that he is gone.
- Min-Hwa Kennard
May 26, 2013
Dear Mimi and Family, I have been thinking of you for several days wondering what was happening-and now I know. I am thinking of you. Tom was a special person at HILR and will be sorely missed. Warmly, Rhoada Wald
Fred Wanger
May 26, 2013
I was terribly saddened to learn of the passing ot Tom. He was my first and, I must say, one of the best introductions to HILR and the level of its classes. His Márquez class left many others with an impossible mountain to climb. But beyond that, I really liked him and the air of genuiness that radiated from being around him. My love to Mimi and the rest of his family for allowing us to share him with you.
Fred Wanger
Susan Frommer
May 26, 2013
A poet, a fly fisherman, a teacher who saw each student as an individual and took joy in what each offered to the world. One who inspired his students to walk their own paths and to swing on those birch trees of life that Frost wrote about . He and Mimi are a special love story.
Tom Danko
May 26, 2013
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
? Robert Frost
Thank you for making a difference in my life.
Thank you Tom for making a difference in my life.
Nancy Errico
May 26, 2013
Tom was a larger than life character who enjoyed life to the fullest. He was curious and intelligent. He will be missed
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