Joe Hooper was a surgeon who is remembered by colleagues and patients for his compassion and his skill with a scalpel. He died of heart failure Oct. 24, 2010, at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, Md., where he had volunteered after retiring.
Joe graduated from Gilman School in his hometown of Baltimore. At Princeton, he played lacrosse, majored in biology, and belonged to Dial Lodge. He graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1954. Interrupting his residency training, he served two years in the Navy, one spent on an icebreaker in Arctic waters. After two years at a VA hospital, he established a private general surgical practice at Baltimore’s Union Memorial Hospital. He retired in 1996. He was a former president of the Baltimore City Medical Society, on the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, and a member of the American College of Surgeons.
Joe professed to thoroughly enjoy his work but delighted in time off. He was an accomplished freshwater and saltwater fly fisherman and an avid duck hunter. He hunted deer with a bow and arrow.
Our condolences go to Shirley, Joe’s wife of 40 years; his son, Joseph III; daughters Brent and Cricket; his sister, Deborah; and four granddaughters.