Richard Hughes Hooker

Richard Hughes Hooker, Jr. was born on May 25th,

1944 to Richard Hughes Hooker Sr. and Dora Lewis

Hooker. He went to be with them in Heaven on

February 28th, 2026.

Richard had several careers in his 81 years. He

enlisted in the Marines right out of high school. At

only 18 years old he went to fight in Viet Nam. After

two tours of duty in Nam he decided he had seen

enough war and did not re-enlist.

His work after coming home began at the Norfolk

shipyards where he trained as a welder but ended up

running a loading crane. That was cold, slow work

for a young man looking for a challenge. Richard had

n opportunity to go to work as a lineman for the

power company (let's not forget that he worked in and

managed a local bar before that break). His power line

work took him to Danville Virginia and there into

North Carolina in the 1970s. He worked for Pike Electric

and then with YC Ballenger Electric. Both these

companies were contracted to Duke Power. If our

power went out during a storm Richard was probably out in

that bad weather pulling new wire for our

repairs.

Richard had married during this time and had

children. His employer lost its Duke contract and was going

to transfer Richard to another state. His

children did not want to change schools (you know

how young teens can be) and his wife had a decent

job so he decided to leave line work for his own

endeavor. Hooker Enterprises was created as a

painting and home repair business. Right away he

landed work with a multi family property owner and

developer. He spent the next many years repairing ,

cleaning out and painting apartments for this

developer.

Richard was also active in his community. His local

ball field had fallen in disrepair and non use. He felt

that the area children should be playing ball so he

started talking to people in the area that might know

who to contact about his idea. Soon he was fixing

bleachers and painting the concession stand. Within a

year the sound of children laughing on the field was

heard. This community activity continued after his

retirement from Hooker Enterprises up until Covid and

Cancer stopped him in 2020. Many children who

played at the Mount Hope ballfields are now adults

whose children play on those fields today. Papa

Hooker, or PaPa Jellybean as many called him, was

always at the fields. He cared for the fields, the

concessions, and the families that enjoyed the

Community space he had created for more than 20

years. Hundreds of families will remember PaPa and

how he cared.

Richard is preceded in death by Richard Hughes

Hooker, Sr., Father; Dora Lewis Hooker, Mother; .

James Claiborne Hooker, Son.

Richard is survived by many who loved him. The most

immediate being his wife of over 40 years Kathy S.

Hooker. His surviving children are: son, Rick

Andrews of Maryland; daughter, Jennifer Shepherd

(Jason) of Portsmouth, Virginia; son, Kenneth

McMahan of Greensboro, NC; daughter, Lisa Wilson

(Randy) of Julian, NC; daughter of his heart, Tammy

Flinchum (Donnie) of Julian, NC; grandchildren,

Alyssa Quillin (Cole) of Chesapeake, VA; Wayne

Shepherd of Portsmouth, VA; grandchildren DJ

Flinchum (Madison) of Julian, NC; Philip Wilson

(Savanna) of Trinity, NC; Bryant Wilson (Taylor) of

Asheboro, NC; Ethan Andrews of Maryland; as well as

Patrice, Jesse, Gabriel and, Kristopher McMahan. He

also leaves behind beloved great grandchildren:

Skylar Elaine Flinchum, Jaxon Dean Flinchum, Harper

Leigh Wilson and, Blakeleigh Mae Wilson. Richard is

also leaving his sister Jean Goodwich (Bill) and

brother Steve Hooker. Also, he leaves behind these

very loved cousins; Rachel Brown, Jake Brown (Tina

and son Tanner), Laura Austin (John) and many

nieces and nephews he has never met.

A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date.

Notification of the celebration will be placed on the

appropriate Mount Hope website and family Facebook

pages

In lieu flowers, please send any donations in

Richard's honor to the Wounded Warrior Project.