Roger Hooker:
CLASS OF 1973
Elverado High SchoolClass of 1973
Elkville, IL
Bluff View Park Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Caseyville, IL
Landsdowne Junior High SchoolClass of 1968
East st. louis, IL
Wilson Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
East st. louis, IL
Grant Middle SchoolClass of 1966
Fairview heights, IL
Roger's Story
Honest to God, I can't imagine anyone would remember me. and I can't imagine anyone being interested in what I've done but if you want to be bored to tears....here goes....
I was born in Grand Haven, Mich. in 1955. We moved to Caseyville, Ill. in 1960. At first, we lived with my aunt and uncle in E. St. Louis then moved to a subdivision called Parkdale Manor in Caseyville. When I reached 6, I was bundled off to Bluff View Park School. For the next five and a-half years, life evolved around school, church (Sterling Baptist) baseball (Everybody was a St. Louis Cardinals fan) and the glorious summer months when we were free to roam around that area. It seemed that every couple of years, I had a different set of friends to hang out with. A few of the mainstays (and I hope they don't mind my printing their names--if they do, I'll delete them--let me know, guys): Mike Digby, Richie and Robbie Converse, Denny Volmer, Johnny Snapat, Larry Stroup, Steve Phelps,Dennis Scurlock) and a whole host of others. I remember Sterling Baptist being built and a couple of us climbed to the top of the outside wall and were walking along the edge..way up in the air. Went by there a few years ago (it's now a Lion's Club or something) and wondered how in the heck I got enough nerve to do that. We explored the 'Bluffs' near us. One summer we found a little cave (actually more like a small tunnel) and about five or six of us crawled in and took off. Seems like we were crawling around inside those catacombs for several hours through some pretty tight spaces. When we emerged, we were on the other side of Caseyville. Again, how did we have the nerve to do that? We could've been lost, had a cave-in, etc.) Had my first crush on a teacher, too. What the heck... everybody knew it and I think all the fifth grade boys had a thing for Miss Tissier. Oh my..but she could be tough on us, too...tough yet fair.
Anyway, plenty more memories from that era but I'm limited in space so... That idyllic era ended when we moved in 1966. That year was interesting as I went to three different schools. Bluff View, of course, then to a real working class school, Woodrow Wilson in E. St. Louis (Those kids were tough and I didn't mix very well as the new kid--got the crap beat out of me several times), and finally, Grant School in Fairview Heights.
Went to Grant for about a year and a-half then went to Lansdowne Jr. High in E. St. Louis. If Wilson was a working class school, this one was two notches below that. Oddly enough, tho', I have alot of fond memories about Lansdowne. Oh, I got the crap beat out of me several times but I made some really good friends for the time I was there. I actually enjoyed the school work (a first) and was making As and Bs...until the last quarter.
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We moved (again) in 1968 and I spent eighth grade at High Mount School...a complete turn around from the working class schools previously mentioned. One of the teachers, Mr. Boller, gave me my lifelong love of history.
Again we moved in 1969 but this time to Madisonville, KY. Spent the ninth grade at Maddyville Jr. High (AKA Browning Springs) where I met my lifelong friends, the Gills. I fondly recall my Maddyville year(s) living in the Brentwood subdivision (it's still there, too!) These guys gave me an appreciation for woods, outdoors, etc., i.e country living, since before I'd been living in the suburbs of St. Louis.
On the move again in 1970, this time to Mt. Vernon, Ill., where I spent two years at Mt. Vernon High. Big school..something like seven buildings. Enjoyed the kids and teachers..and was even in the inaugural class of Bachelor Foods! (While some of us enjoyed the class, a few others were hell on wheels and made the experience horrible for our teacher).
In 1972, we moved again (and no, my father wasn't in military--he worked for Goodyear and had a knack of turning around bad stores to good stores). This time to Oraville, Ill., when Dad finally left Goodyear for a private owner. He managed Porter Bros. Service Station while I enrolled in Elverado High in Elkville, Ill. My final year of school and I couldn't wait to get out.
After graduating from Elverado in 1973, I wandered aimlessly for several years. I returned to western Kentucky (Princeton, Maddyville) to seek my fame and fortune but alas, I didn't find it there. I worked on and off for several years at an electronics plant in Princeton (Arvin's--anybody remember that?) but they had a regular lay-off schedule and I just couldn't get enough seniority to stay. I worked briefly as an animal warden (AKA dog catcher) and enjoyed it but a new regime soon took over at the humane society and the new queen's husband got my job.
Back to the factory and its six months of work/six months on the dole until I got fed up with it. My dad had been touting the military for quite some time and I finally relented. I joined the Air Force in 1976--first as a weapons loader then I transferred into my real love--an Air Force historian (yes, the AF does have historians!). For the next 24 years, I served in a variety of places: Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, and Okinawa Japan, with side trips to Italy, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Along the way, I married, got divorced, and married again. In 2000, the AF decided I had done enough damage and let me retire.
We stayed in Missouri where I briefly worked as a security guard. After a year or two of that, I found a new vocation and began working at our local newspaper as a copy editor-- a position which I still hold today (so far!).
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