Henry Hooker
Henry Hooker, a Nashville attorney and civic leader who helped transform the Iroquois Steeplechase into a prominent centerpiece of Middle Tennessee culture and a million-dollar fundraiser for Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, died Monday, April 23. He was 84.
With his wife of more than 60 years, Alice Ingram Hooker, Hooker envisioned the possibilities for the horse racing event that started in 1941, and he brought that vision to fruition during his tenure as Iroquois’ chairman over 17 years.
Hooker and the late horseman George Sloan suggested Children’s Hospital as the Iroquois beneficiary in 1981. It was Hooker’s love of children that brought everything together, said people who know him well.
“He’s truly one of the giants upon whose shoulders the Iroquois has been built,” said Dwight Hall, the current Iroquois Steeplechase chairman. “When he finished his legacy, it was a world-class race that contributed during his tenure $8-million to $9-million to Children’s Hospital.”
Hall said Hooker was a skilled storyteller who could captivate a room the moment he walked into it. “He was a great guy. He was very much a renaissance man,” Hall said. “He’ll be greatly missed.”
Hooker was an enthusiastic and gifted sportsman who enjoyed tennis and foxhunting. He and his wife were invited to join the Hillsboro Hounds in 1963, and he became a long-serving master of foxhounds.
He also served as the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, and his writings on foxhunting included a sporting memoir, “Fox, Fin, & Feather,” in 2002.
Hooker was the son of the late Nashville attorney John Jay Hooker Sr. and the late civic leader Darthula Williamson June. His siblings were John Jay Hooker Jr. and Alice Kirby Hooker “Teenie” Buchtel.
After earning a degree at Vanderbilt University, serving two years in the U.S. Army, and excelling at Tulane Law School, he joined the Hooker & Hooker law firm in 1960. He worked closely with his brother from 1966 to 1976, serving as his law partner, business partner in Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken, and as his campaign director in two state political races. The Hooker brothers, who were ideologically progressive, advocated for equal rights for African-Americans.
Judge Gilbert Merritt, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, knew Hooker since childhood. “Henry–like his father and his brother, John Jay–was a very distinguished lawyer,” Merritt said. “Henry and wife Alice contributed a lot of time and resources to a lot of Nashville organizations and charitable institutions. He was a very charming man, and a very distinguished lawyer.”
Hooker also was an entrepreneur and had many business ventures throughout his life. He founded and held various leadership roles for the Hospital Corp. of America, Lin Broadcasting Corp., DSI Inc., and Minnie Pearl Fried Chicken.
He moved to New York in 1971, working as the vice president of corporate development for Studebaker-Worthington Inc. and returned to Nashville in 1975 as the board chairman and majority owner of Oil Recovery Corp. of America. His also was a business adviser and served as the director of several corporations, including STP Corp.
He also served on the boards of Fisk University, Montgomery Bell Academy, and Ensworth School.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation with the family is scheduled for Thursday, April 27, at Hunting Hollow from 3 – 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville on Friday, April 28, at 11 a.m., with burial immediately following the service at Mount Olivet Cemetery .
Honorary Pallbearers are:William F. Andrews, Edward S. Bonnie, William H. Cammack, Harold J. Castner, Brownlee O. Currey Jr., Harland Dodson, John Gray, H. Rodes Hart Sr., David Kendall, Robert W. Kitchell, Mason H. Lampton, 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.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Alive Hospice, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Ensworth School, Cheekwood, or the Alice and Henry Hooker Fund at VUMC, 2525 West End Ave., Suite 450 , Nashville, TN 37203.