Mary Eloise Parks Hooper

After a long life woven of strength, intelligence, determination, devotion, passion, artistry and love, Mary Eloise Hooper released the last thread of life's tether to join loved ones in God's warm embrace. Born in Fort Worth, Texas on July 9,1924 as the first of two daughters to Hugh A. and Faye Parks, Eloise is survived by her sons Michael and Stephen, their wives, six grandchildren, twenty great grandchildren and two great great grandsons. Her husband, Dr. Charles H. Hooper, son Daniel, daughter Judith, and foster daughter Lynda passed before her.

Eloise displayed remarkable gifts early on. Reading and writing at age three, she would sit and type stories and descriptions of things she enjoyed. In school, she skipped several grade levels, entered college at fourteen, earned her degree and was teaching by eighteen. While at college in Denton, Texas, she changed her major from history to music education so that she could sing in the a capella choir. With little background in music, she mastered the piano to the point that she taught piano, and later sightread and played classical duets with her son Daniel as he trained to be a concert pianist.

It was at college that Eloise befriended a classmate, her future mother-in-law, Lavinia Hooper, who recognized her qualities and encouraged a relationship with her son, Charles. Eloise and Charles married on December 19, 1942, and had Michael less than two years later. Daniel followed in 1947, Judith in 1949, and Stephen in 1953. The young couple, both children of teachers and ministers, raised their family in a deeply religious and educational environment, providing their children with every possible opportunity for success in their endeavors and personal growth.

Along with her remarkable gifts, Eloise faced remarkable challenges. In her thirties, she suffered a brain aneurysm requiring high risk surgery and a lengthy recovery. She lost her photographic memory skills and her ambidexterity as a result. She cared for her sister Ruth as she deteriorated at a young age from kidney disease, her mother Faye as she suffered and died from stomach cancer, and her father Hugh, who had severe dementia for many years before his death, all while raising a large, active family.

Eloise was never one to sit idle. She loved music, art, literature, crafts and fabrics in particular. There were always books stacked for reading, paintings to create, music to enjoy and fabric, fabric, fabric. She went from having a sewing room complete with a library of patterns, clothes in various stages of completion, dress forms and the like, to asking Charles to make her a loom. But one was not enough —soon she had two looms, then three looms, a spinning wheel, bales of fresh wool to clean, pull, and spin into yarn. With but a few lessons in weaving, she became a professional. She, along with two friends, founded Paseo Del Rio Looms. The company gained success and notoriety producing custom fabrics and works of art. It's crowning achievement was a commissioned grand triptych tapestry depicting the life and accomplishments of San Antonio businessman, H.B. Zachry. Eloise continued weaving pieces for family and friends well into her eighties.

Her biggest challenge came when Charles passed away from heart failure at fifty-six. With little preparation for cataclysm, Eloise was left with relatively few assets, little cash, and an immediate need to generate income. In few short months, she sold the home she loved, disposed of personal property, bought and moved into a home she could afford, and secured a position as Assistant Director and frequent Interim Director of the Southwest Craft Center. It was this painful and difficult challenge that caused her to bloom into the strong, confident, and independent person that thrived until her passing. Through savvy investing and business moves she was able to travel the U.S. and the world and to turn her house into a showcase of art, literature and culture.

Nothing was more important to Eloise than family and home. Even as she approached one hundred years, she kept up with all of her kids, grand-kids, their kids and grand-kids, sharing their interests and giving them love. In search of beauty, structure and elegance in worship, Eloise found her spiritual home at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church. She loved and supported Saint Thomas in every way possible for the last decades of her life and was always so very grateful to be a part.

Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, Eloise, we love you. We rejoice that you are reunited with those you've loved and that you are now dancing with God.

Services will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Friday, December 22, 2023, at 10:00 AM and live-streamed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/Tom1604). Burial will follow at Mission Burial Park North. Memorial donations may be made to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1416 North Loop 1604 East, San Antonio, Texas,78232, Ph. (210) 494-3507, or to a charity of your choosing.