MACHIAS – Inspirational.

That is how many area residents described Leonard Hooper, an English teacher who taught for more than 50 years, about half of that time at Machias Memorial High School.

Hooper died Tuesday morning at his home in Roque Bluffs. He was 80.

A lifelong educator, Hooper became a fixture at Machias Memorial High School and a part of the lives of more than three decades’ worth of students who attended his classes.

“Leonard Hooper was always a very inspirational person for his students,” said Lyman Holmes, a local lawyer. “He always encouraged them to do an excellent job. He encouraged them to reach their full potential.”

He was “a great teacher,” said colleague Jeff Chick, who taught Jobs for Maine Graduates, a school-to-work program in a classroom next to Hooper. According to Chick, Hooper set strict standards in his classroom and demanded respect, but he also returned that respect. Despite the wide difference in ages, there was no generation gap between him and his students.

“Mr. Hooper was a gentleman, he was very polite and articulate and he treated the kids with respect,” Chick said. “He had a way of working with each individual kid as well. He was able to reach kids, no matter what kind of a kid they were.”

Hooper enjoyed being around young people, according to Principal Tim Reynolds.

“He kept himself young by being around young people,” Reynolds said. “He truly enjoyed what he did. He loved kids and he knew he had a lot to offer kids.”

Hooper was part “old school,” part new, Reynolds said.

“He had some of the old-school philosophy, but he embraced school change and technology,” he said. “He was a very unique individual.”

Students reacted with shock and sadness, and some with disbelief.

“In a school of this size, you’re a family member. When someone who has been a part of your life every day is suddenly gone, it’s hard for adolescents to understand that part of life,” he said.

Funeral arrangements were pending, but Reynolds said the school likely will be involved in a service if that meets with the family’s wishes.

Hooper was a tough teacher, according to Christi Holmes, a former student who is now a sophomore at the University of Maine.

“He was always the one that the upperclassmen warned you about,” she said. “He was tough as nails. He was there to teach and he meant business.”

Even students who might act up in other classes buckled down and got it done in Hooper’s classes, Holmes said.

“They all had a certain respect for Mr. Hooper,” she said. “And he respected us. He really did care about us and he wanted his students to do better and he always wanted us to succeed.”

Hooper was remembered as a proud veteran. He served in the U.S. Navy during the last year of World War II. When his Reserve unit was called up, he served again during the Korean War. He spoke regularly at the annual Veterans Day memorial and often recited his favorite poem, “In Flanders Fields.”

He also was an avid historian. He wrote a history of the Machias Savings Bank and a biography of Grace Donworth, a Machias author who wrote about life Down East in the early part of the century.

He recently completed a manuscript that the Machias Historical Society plans to publish this summer to coincide with the June 21 Margaretta Days Festival, according to Katherine Cassidy of the Machias Historical Society. Written for young adults, “Machias Patriots and the Margaretta” describes the battle between Machias patriots and the British vessel Margaretta in Machias Bay in June 1775.

“He worked so diligently to rewrite the story so the next generation of students in Machias can also know their local history, which was one of his very favorite topics,” said Cassidy, who is coordinating the project.

A Machias native, Hooper graduated in 1944 from the same high school where he eventually would return as an English teacher. Hooper taught at suburban and inner-city schools in New Jersey for 25 years and retired in 1976, returning to open a florist shop with his sister. After just one year, he returned to the classroom, at Machias Memorial High School. He retired again in 1992, but that retirement didn’t stick either, and in 1999 he returned to the high school where he continued to teach until his death. On the high school Web site, he recently reported that he had completed requirements that would certify him to teach until 2012.

“It’s in my blood,” Hooper told a reporter in 2003. “I can’t stay away from it.”

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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