Dr. William Hooper (Bolivar)'s Obituary
Dr. William "Bill" Hooper, 89 of Bolivar, Missouri passed away on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri.
William Loyd Hooper was born on September 16, 1931, the son of George Hooper and Mary McNabb Hooper. His early years were spent in Bolivar, MO. Bill was eleven years of age when he was saved and baptized into the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO where he served as Senior Adult Pastor from the Spring of 1999 to 2017. He was married to Doris Wallace Hooper, who preceded him in death in 2011. To this union was born William Loyd Hooper, Jr. and Carol Ann Cooper.
He graduated from Southeast High School, Kansas City, MO; Southwest Baptist College (now Southwest Baptist University) in Bolivar, MO; William Jewell College in Liberty, MO with a BA degree; the University of Iowa with the MA degree; and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University with the PhD Degree. Post-doctoral education included composition study with Humphrey Searle at the Royal College of Music, London, and pastoral counseling at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation, London. Academic awards include the David Alan Duce Award in Philosophy at William Jewell College, a graduate assistantship at the University of Iowa, and a Jesse Jones Scholarship at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.
Bill's Pastoral experience includes First Baptist Church, Picher, Oklahoma; Denver Baptist Church, Denver, MO; First Baptist Church, Old Hickory, Tennessee; Emmanuel Baptist Church, Gravesend, Kent, England; and First Baptist Church, Bolivar, Mo. He also ministered in Zambia and in Brazil.
Primarily a teacher, Bill taught K-12 music in Essex, Iowa and Atalissa, Iowa; professor of voice at Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary; Head of Music at Newstead Woods School for Girls in the London Borough of Bromley, England; and Dean of Fine Arts and Professor of Music at Southwest Baptist University. Bill also served as baritone soloist with the choir of St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans.
Composing music began in high school and Bill has written many instrumental and choral compositions that have been published by Concordia Press, Broadman Press, Carl Fischer and Word Music. Incidental music was composed for the production of Anouhil's play "Becket" by Le Petite Theatre du Vieux Caree' in New Orleans. He won the Delius Composition Competition in 1973, the New Times Composition Competition in 1974, and the Missouri Composers Project in 2017. Hooper was also the author of ten books.
Bill is survived by his wife, Katherine Eddy Hooper; two sons, William Jr. and wife Nancy of Phoenix, Arizona; and Donnie Eddy of Omaha, Nebraska; two daughters, Carol Ann Cooper of Rochester, Michigan and Nicole Eddy of Omaha, Nebraska; one brother, David McNabb Hooper and wife, Carol of Kansas City, Missouri; five grandchildren, Nathan, Natalie, Sarah, Claire and Kate; and three great grandchildren, Samus, Laura and Anna.
A memorial service will be held 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 27, 2021 at the First Baptist Church of Bolivar, MO. Burial will take place in Greenwood Cemetery, Bolivar, MO.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association. 225 n. Michigan Ave., Fl.17, Chicago, Il 60601, or on their Web page. https://www.alz.org/research.
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