Mr. Michael Mike Ronald Hooper

1948 - 2009

Michael Hooper passed away on October 01, 2009. A memorial service was held at Fosters Garden Chapel, 3220 - 4 Street N.W. Calgary on October 10, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

Michael was born in Essex, Billericay, UK after the war in 1948. Michael lived an incredibly busy life, until his 60 years of age. Michael traveled the world, to end up close to his family in Canada, in July 2008. He was a great man, & he will be greatly missed by all those who knew him.

MEMORIAL SPEECH

A wise man once said: take care of your character and your reputation will take care of itself.

Today I feel I have been given an impossible task – to give an account of my father’s life and achievements within 5 minutes...And if you knew my father, you’d probably agree.

I believe I speak not only for myself when I say my father was an inspiration. He lived life to the fullest and he never looked back. He would often take decisions which to others might seem risky. For example, I remember when he returned home to my mum one day to say he had resigned from his job of 12 years and we were moving to our fifth country of residence. Of course this was an easy decision for a man who had lived in 15 countries after leaving his native England at the age of 25. Some of those experiences included sitting at a pub during a civil war in Lebanon, returning from holiday in the UK to a coup-d’stat in Paraguay, and commuting into Belfast whilst a bomb set off by the IRA derailed his train.

An electrical engineer by trade, my dad worked his way up through hard work and determination and helped others do the same along the way. He started off his career in telecommunications, worked in production, moved on to electronic bank forgery detection systems, set up his own company, worked for the Canadian government, moved into environmental services and finally worked in health and safety at the new Quito Airport and later at the Bow for Ledcor in Calgary.

Some of his personal ventures included exporting coffee and setting up a microbrewery that offered decent British beer. He headed the British Chamber of Commerce in Ecuador, the Society of Petroleum Engineers as well as the Chamber of Mines. Through his service to these organisations, he helped set up a number of programmes throughout Latin America including International Arbitration services and a Masters Programme in Energy and the Environment accredited by the University of Calgary.

Dad believed in reaching one’s own potential. He would often get a hold of an idea, and end up developing it to an extent that you just couldn’t help but feel enthusiastic about it. He was a great believer in education. His great and often dark sense of humour was sometimes lost in translation.

His inner strength and determination came to the test when he fell ill with pancreatic cancer. For the first time in his life, it was something that he could not control. However, stubborn as he was, he was determined to be with us until next spring. And as the engineer he was, he mapped out timelines and medium survival rates for his illness. When he said to me he was planning on attending his own wake, I said “Father, do you think some people might find that a little strange?” He didn’t win the war, but he certainly gave death a good run for her money.

His life and legacy were optimism and the belief that everything was possible. He was a loving husband, father, a true friend, and our mentor.

I have now told you about his character, I’ll let reputation take care of itself.

Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to the family, through the guest book on this website.. all messages are welcome!

Michael's story on the Pancreatic Cancer Website: http://www.pancreaticcancercanada.ca/our_stories.html

Sincerely,

Gina, Maria, Daniela Hooper