For all his important accomplishments, Henry Hooker could just crack you up with a story.
Henry Hooker, MFH since 1963 of the Hillsboro Hounds in Nashville, Tennessee, passed away at home on April 24, 2017, following a long illness. He was eighty-four.
Sadly, the world of field sport has lost a genial, enthusiastic, humorous, and visionary citizen. With his deliberate and clear Tennessee-inflected drawl, dry wit, and a sparkle in his eye, he was one of the most amusing raconteur’s ever to unfold a story. From the field or the podium—he was a highly-sought speaker—he could just crack you up.
In his memoir, Fox, Fin, and Feather: Tales from the Field (The Derrydale Press, 2002), he took his readers, on a raucous jaunt—foxhunting, fishing, and shooting—from the dark hills and hollows of the Tennessee night hunters to the exclusive quail-shooting plantations of South Georgia. He connected the “Brahmins of the chase” (English-inspired mounted foxhunters) to their American roots (southern night hunters and field trialers). The characters he ran across in the course of his sporting adventures furnished all the material he ever needed for his hilarious and touching anecdotes. For example…
The guests one festive evening included a young debutante named Con Thompson from Nashville. She told Henry the story of being seated at dinner next to a gentleman in tails, who had arrived in his private rail car. As dinner progressed, a liveried footman behind every seat, the gentleman leaned over and whispered to Con, “My dear, I saw you out hunting today, and I would give ten thousand dollars for your seat and hands upon a horse.” “And how much would it be then for the whole thing?” she sweetly replied in a confidential tone.
Henry’s essays appeared in periodicals including The Chronicle of the Horse. His poem, “The Gamest Fox,” was published by The Nashville Banner in their sports column.
Introduced to the sport of mounted foxhunting by his wife Alice, he was forever hooked. Henry and Alice were invited to join the Hillsboro Hounds, and in 1963 he began a long career as MFH. He worked tirelessly over five decades to see the hunt flourish, and he served as a director of the MFHA.
He owned numerous award-winning horses, including Terossain, who competed in The Grand National Steeplechase in Liverpool, England and Spin the Top, who won many steeplechase races, including the Frost Brush Race at the Iroquois Steeplechase.
Henry was chairman of the Iroquois Steeplechase Race Committee for seventeen years. He also served as chairman of the National Steeplechase Association.
In 1980, Henry and Alice envisioned transforming Nashville’s Iroquois Steeplechase—founded in 1941 by the Hillsboro Hounds—into an updated and competitive premier event benefitting Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. At the time, Henry was secretary of the Volunteer State Horsemen’s Association, which put on the race, and Alice chaired the Children’s Hospital board. The two brought about the “marriage” of the Horsemen and the Friends of Children’s Hospital, rendering the hospital the beneficiary of the Steeplechase’s largess. Children’s Hospital volunteers became an efficient work corps driving community interest and handling the vibrant social side of the event. The foxhunters managed the race and logistics.
Organizers dedicated the 1985 Iroquois Steeplechase to Henry Hooker when he stepped down as race chairman. Later, the Friends of the Children’s Hospital Committee honored the couple by the establishment of a charity fund named “Alice and Henry Hooker Endowment Fund” for the benefit of Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Over the years, Henry received many accolades. Two particularly noteworthy awards pertained to his business and sports contributions. Nashville Magazine honored him as a Nashvillian having the greatest impact on the city from 1965-1985. And in 2015, he and his wife were inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame for helping elevate the Iroquois Steeplechase from a unique sporting event into a spectacular citywide fundraiser for what is now the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The twenty-seven-year alliance that the Hookers oversaw raised more than eight million dollars for the medical institution.
A Nashville native, Henry attended Montgomery Bell Academy, The Choate School in Connecticut, and the Graham Eckes School in Florida, where he was valedictorian. After just three years of high school, he entered Vanderbilt University, earning his philosophy degree in 1954. One extremely impactful year of that coursework took place at Queens College, Oxford, England.
Following two years of U.S. Army service, Mr. Hooker enrolled in Tulane Law School, excelling academically. He was a finalist at Moot Court Nationals, editor of the Tulane Law Review, and elected to the Order of the Coif. After completing his law degree, he and Alice moved to Nashville to raise their family.
Mr. Hooker remained devoted to education and later enjoyed serving on the boards of Fisk University, Montgomery Bell Academy and The Ensworth School in Nashville.
In 1960 he joined Hooker & Hooker law firm in Nashville. In addition to a successful legal practice, he was active in business ventures, including Hospital Corporation of America, as a founder; Lin Broadcasting Corp., as a founder and director; DSI Inc., as a founder; and Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken, as a founder and board chairman.
In 1971 Henry moved to New York as vice president of corporate development for Studebaker-Worthington Inc., thus initiating his career in the oil and gas business. He returned to Nashville in 1975 as board chairman and majority owner of Oil Recovery Corporation of America (ORCA). In demand as a business advisor, he served as a director of numerous corporations including STP Corp and Susquehanna Corp.
From 1966-1976, Mr. Hooker was closely associated with his brother, serving as his law partner, business partner in Minnie Pearl Chicken, and campaign director in two statewide political contests. The brothers were progressives, particularly championing equal rights for African-Americans.
In leisure, Mr. Hooker adored sociable sports and games, namely tennis and foxhunting. A gifted athlete, he was a member of the Vanderbilt tennis team and rowed for his Queen’s College at Oxford University. He later constructed an indoor tennis court at his home, Hunting Hollow, and—until a foxhunting accident at age thirty-seven—had a winning serve. Injuries aside, he played and rode into his seventies.
Henry was born in Nashville on April 14, 1933 to the late civic leader Darthula Williamson June and the late John Jay Hooker, Sr., a prominent Nashville attorney. He is survived by his wife of sixty-one years, Alice Ingram Hooker, two sons, one daughter, and seven grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville on Friday, April 28, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., with burial immediately following the service at Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Honorary Pallbearers are William F. Andrews; Edward S. Bonnie, ex-MFH; William H. Cammack; Harold J. Castner; Brownlee O. Currey Jr.; Harland Dodson; Hillsboro huntsman John Gray; H. Rodes Hart Sr.; David Kendall; Robert W. Kitchell; Mason H. Lampton, MFH; H. Hill McAlister V; The Honorable Gilbert S. Merritt; Marvin J. Nischan; William Puryear; John Michael Seigenthaler; James R. Stadler; Lemuel Stevens Jr.; Robert Tuke; Johnson B. Wallace.
The family would like to extend sincere gratitude to the dedicated caregivers and staff at Hunting Hollow for their care of Mr. Hooker.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Alive Hospice, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, The Ensworth School, Cheekwood or the Alice and Henry Hooker Fund at VUMC, 2525 West End Ave., Suite 450, Nashville, TN 37203.
Posted April 27, 2017