Elinor Constance Hooper

Elinor Hooper passed away peacefully, at the age of 97, on February 10th, 2024, at the St George long term care home in Toronto.

Elinor, born September 16, 1926 in Halifax, was the daughter of Marina (Rene) (Creighton) Teasdale and Ernest (Ernie) L. Teasdale of Dartmouth, NS. She grew up and began school at age four, eventually graduating from the Dartmouth High School in 1943. To move her away from all the wartime activity (and young soldiers!), her mother decided she would attend Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, where her dance card was always full. After graduation she transferred to the University of Toronto, graduating with a Masters in Social Work in 1949.

In the summer of 1947, sponsored by the Dartmouth Kiwanis Club, a beautiful Elinor was proclaimed the first ever Dartmouth Natal Day Queen.

For several years she was a social worker with the Toronto Children’s Aid Society, but after her marriage to Perry McFeeters Hooper, a Chemical Engineer, they moved to Montreal and she became a stay-at-home Mom with the arrival of their children: Donald, Shelley, Creighton, and Craig. In 1965 the family moved to Hemmingford, about an hour south of Montreal. They lived on a 90-acre rural property on Roxham Road, made famous in recent years as the main entry point for illegal immigration into Canada.

As a mother she was very involved with her children, taking them to swim lessons, the library and assisting in their school plays. A very adaptable Elinor changed careers in 1967 and began teaching at the newly constructed Chateauguay Valley Regional High School (CVR) in Ormstown, PQ, the first high school in Quebec to include both Protestant and Roman Catholic Students. She attended ‘summer school’ at MacDonald College in St Anne de Bellevue (Montreal), graduating in 1970 with a Class 1 Teaching Certificate. While at CVR her extra-curricular activities included playing the piano for the school’s annual musical production – The Boyfriend, Pirates of Penzance and Oliver were three of the most successful. She retired from teaching in 1987.

Elinor had a keen desire to keep learning, resulting in another career change with completion of courses in Reflexology, Aromatherapy Massage, and Therapeutic Touch. She worked casually in the field of alternative medicine until 2001. During this time Elinor had moved to Ajax, ON, where music remained a large part of her life. She became Organist and Choir Director at Courtice United Church and also played keyboard and piano with the Whitby Seniors’ Band. As an artist, she expressed herself through music and the beautiful watercolors she painted. She loved baseball, particularly the Blue Jays, and attended several games each year.

Elinor was a very elegant and classy woman who loved fashionable clothing, beautiful jewelry and wore large rings on her long fingers. She enjoyed travelling to such diverse places as Bermuda, the Caribbean, Alaska, England, continental Europe, Greece, Russia, and Australia. She is survived by sons Donald (Brenda) Hooper, Rossland, B.C. and their children, Andrew (Natasha, Great Grandchildren Sullivan, Crosby, Liv), Squamish, B.C., and Rebecca (Gerben) Hooper, Rossland, B.C.; Creighton (Rosemary) Hooper, Toronto; Craig (Vicki) Hooper, Ajax. Elinor was pre-deceased by her infant daughter, Shelley.

Cremation will take place in Toronto, with a private family burial service in the Teasdale family plot at the Mount Hermon Cemetery in Dartmouth, NS, where her parents and infant daughter Shelley are buried. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a chrity of your choice in Elinor's memory.