Donald H. Hooker Jr. ’63

Don died Feb. 17, 2024, at his vacation home in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

Don was one of eight in our class to come from Gilman School in Baltimore. At Princeton, he majored in English and wrote his senior thesis on American prose fiction of the 1920s, “The Myth of the Lost Generation.” He was a member of Ivy Club and served as a Chapel deacon. He was on the freshman heavyweight crew, the varsity baseball squad sophomore year, and threw the javelin for the varsity track team in his junior and senior years. His roommates were Bill Conner, Thad Hutcheson, and Dexter Peacock. Don’s father was Class of 1932.

After Princeton, Don taught English and served as a dormitory supervisor at International College in Beirut. He, George Gurley, Tony Jones, and Bill Schmick were chosen to be the first teaching fellows at this K-12 boarding school that draws students from all over the Middle East.

After returning to Baltimore, Don married Betsey Norris in 1965. They moved to California, where Don taught physics, coached, and lived at the Webb School in Claremont for five years before returning to Baltimore to begin his career in commercial and investment banking. He was vice president of First National Bank, president of First Maryland Leasecorp. and then moved to Alex. Brown & Sons, where he retired as a principal.

Throughout his life, he enjoyed golf, tennis, theater, music, opera, travel, reading, and a playful sense of humor.

Don is survived by his daughter, Heidi Abbott; his son, Donald III; three grandchildren; and his partner of 16 years, Mary Bradshaw.