Samuel P. Hoopes Jr.

1925 - 2019

Hoopes, Samuel P. Jr. BOLTON LANDING Samuel P. Hoopes Jr., died on April 13, 2019, at Glens Falls Hospital. He leaves behind a history rich in adventure and accomplishment. He was 93. Samuel Pruyn Hoopes Jr. was born on May 26, 1925, to his father of the same name and mother Elizabeth Lang Hoopes, in Glens Falls. He attended local Glens Falls Schools until high school when he and his brother Maurice Hoopes II (better known as "Dee") went to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. Sam convinced the headmaster Frank Boyden (against his better judgment) to graduate early, so that he could join the Navy and contribute to the war effort. After the war ended, he attended Dartmouth College on the G.I Bill. Sam joined the Navy with the intent to be a naval aviator, but in Officers Training School, his nose was broken during boxing training and he was scrubbed from the program because he could not temporarily breathe through one nostril. He continued to become a Landing Craft driver as an Ensign. Flying was always one of Sam's passionate pursuits and he had been taught along the way by Gus Hamm, amongst others, in Glens Falls at the airfield the was located where Queensbury School is now. Over the course of his career, he owned several notable aircraft including a Stearman Biplane and a Texan AT6. He ended his flying days in his eighties in his beloved Piper Super Cub, which in the winter sported skis. After he came home from the war, he and his brother took up motorcycle racing. Mostly Flat Track events, but also some hill climbs, trails and road races at Laconia and Daytona. He and Dee were part of the Glens Falls group that most notably included Tom McDermott who went on to a professional career. Sam's brother Dee was killed while racing a motorcycle in Quebec. Sam married Patricia Gale Bixby on February 9, 1952. They lived at 29 North Road in Glens Falls and in the summer on Fish Point in Bolton. Sam was a ski patrolman at "Little Gore" and raced sailboats at the Lake George Club. Pat decided that if she was to see her husband at all on the weekends, she would have to learn some new skills. She worked hard learning to ski and was eventually tapped by her instructors to become an instructor herself. She also crewed aboard Sam's Starboat loyally for many years in home races as well as regattas away from home. Sam worked his early years at the family owned paper mill, Finch Pruyn & Co., Inc., as a millwright in what he called the "Bull Gang." In a near deadly accident, a rivet gun misfired and shot a hot rivet into his gut. He spent many weeks in Glens Falls Hospital and at home recovering. The rivet was so close to his spine that the surgeon decided to leave it there and Sam carried it for the rest of his life. Being the great-grandson of founder Samuel Pruyn and a major shareholder of the company, that was the end of his career "in harm's way." He worked his way up to become the head of the Purchasing Department, a vice president and a member of both the Board of Directors and Trustees. In June of 2007, he was instrumental in the successful sale of the 142-year-old company. It thrives to this day. Sam had been an officer, commodore and board member of many local institutions including The Hyde Collection, First National Bank, Finch Pruyn & Co., Inc. and The Lake George Club. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Patricia Bixby Hoopes; his son Samuel P. Hoopes III (Kam) and his wife Maggie and her son Spencer; his daughter Charnell Hoopes Thompson; three grandchildren, Chelsea Hoopes Silver (Josh), Hunter Thompson and Camree Thompson; and two great-grandchildren, Samuel Bixby Silver and Everett Reeves Silver. There will be no public services. Donations may be made in Sam's name to Glens Falls Hospital or The Hyde Collection.