Deceased December 8, 2020

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In Memory

Our brother and our classmate, Thomas Harrison Hooper III, passed away on December 8, 2020, from complications associated with Lewy body dementia. He was 68 years old.

Tom was born on November 29, 1952, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Johnnye Hooper, a public health nurse, and Thomas Harrison Hooper Jr., a funeral home owner. His parents were extremely involved in the community and instilled in Tom the importance of serving his community. They were also active members of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

Tom attended Winston-Salem public schools through seventh grade but became intrigued with the idea of boarding school through conversations with older student mentors in his church who attended boarding schools. With his parents’ blessing, he researched schools and ultimately chose St. Andrew’s School, an Episcopal boarding school in Middletown, Delaware.

Tom attended St. Andrew’s from grades 8 through 12, graduating in 1971. St. Andrew’s had a profound effect on Tom. He thrived academically, athletically and as a student leader. His connection to St. Andrew’s was a lasting one. He made lifelong friends and, as an alumnus, was an active volunteer, frequently returning to speak to students of color, identifying potential future candidates for the school, serving on the board of trustees for many years and ultimately being named a trustee emeritus in 2014.

After graduating from St. Andrew’s, Tom attended Amherst College and graduated with a degree in economics in 1975. Tom worked the next year at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in their corporate contributions area before attending Harvard Business School where he earned an MBA in 1978.

During college, Tom met his future wife, Diane Boykins, a student at nearby Smith College. They married a month after Tom’s graduation from business school and settled in Hackensack, New Jersey. By the 1980s, their family would grow as they welcomed their daughter Lauren in 1982 and son Phillip in 1985.

In the 1970s, Tom occasionally accompanied his father to the local Winston-Salem radio station and became increasingly interested in broadcasting. Following his graduation from business school, Tom embarked on a nearly 20-year career in broadcasting. Tom was extremely personable and had a strong ability to connect with people, natural skills that complemented his initial jobs in radio sales at ABC Radio Network and later WPAT Radio in New Jersey.

Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit very much like his father, Tom always had an interest in radio station management. In 1982, Tom moved into radio station ownership, becoming co-owner (with his wife) and general manager of an AM daytime R&B station called WHYZ Radio in Greenville, South Carolina. Those were especially rewarding years for Tom as the station’s audience rapidly grew, and Tom could contribute to Greenville’s Black community in numerous ways, such as supporting voter registration drives. However, after six years, Tom and Diane sold the radio station and returned to New Jersey where Tom continued working in broadcasting as a radio consultant.

In 1992, after the passing of his father, Tom would take over the ownership of the family business, Hooper Funeral Home in Winston-Salem, and serve as president until his death.

In 1996, Tom learned of a recently opened K-8 Episcopal school called St. Philip’s Academy (now Philip’s Academy Charter School). Excited at the interest in helping children, Tom joined St. Philip’s as its first director of development where his entrepreneurial and marketing skills proved pivotal in the development of the school in its early stages of operation. At the time of his retirement in 2013, he had advanced to chief advancement officer and had experienced huge success and personal fulfillment. Indeed, as Junius Williams ’65 remarked: “My wife told me ‘Mr. Hooper’ died, from St. Phillip’s Academy in Newark where both my boys attended. And then I saw this obituary from my friends at Amherst. I knew he went to Amherst but had put it aside in my mind. It just now hit me it was the same person as the man who helped to introduce us to this great grade school. He was always there for the kids. I wish I had spent more time with him and looked into the quiet man behind this fabulous resume. What a great contribution he made wherever he landed.”

In his free time, and before his illness began to progress, he enjoyed taking long car drives as a form of relaxation and had come to enjoy kayaking, especially in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Tom is survived by his wife, Diane Hooper; daughter Lauren (Daren) Rogers; son Phillip (Carla) Hooper; grandchildren Winston Rogers and Harmony Hooper; brother Robert (Mercile) Johnson; mother-in-law Henrietta Boykins; sister-in-law Annette (Maarten) Terry; nephew and niece Christopher and Alexandra Terry; cousins Percy (Yolanda) Hooper, Joy Carter, Deborah Head, Leatrice (Linda) Cotton Head, Warren Head, William (Cheryl) Head, Robert Head, Mary Elizabeth Peek, Elaine McCone, Cathy Peek; and a host of cousins and loved ones.

He is also survived by many friends among the members of the Amherst College Class of 1975, most notably Gib Metcalf ’75 who happened to have also been a classmate of Tom’s at St. Andrews as well. Gib wrote about Tom, “Some people are natural leaders, and Tom was such a person. He combined confidence with charm, good humor and a genuine concern for others. Lest he seem too saintly, he could explode in exasperation at some annoying person or thing. It was always done, however, with a laugh and a bit of self-deprecation.

“He could be serious as well. I recall a time at Amherst College where we were classmates. The Afro-American Center had called for a Day of Reflection on racism and a group of Blacks, including Tom, came into a large lecture on constitutional law and demanded that the professor observe the event and stop teaching. Tom was near me but was all business—he would not acknowledge me nor show any sign of recognition. Yet given my time with Tom, I knew he did not bear any animosity towards me and, sure enough, when we spoke later, he spoke thoughtfully and honestly about the event and with genuine friendship.

“I hope his family can appreciate the love and affection all of us in the [St. Andrew’s] Class of ’71 have for him.”

I believe that Gib’s words speak for many of us from Amherst’s Class of ’75 as well.

Everett “Skip” Jenkins ’75