Memorable Manitobans: Walter Albert “Wally” Hooper (1930-2005)

Athlete, community activist.

Born at Regina, Saskatchewan in 1930 to Violet Metcalf (1905-1972) and Albert Walker “Bert” Hooper (1900-1981), he moved with his family to Winnipeg in 1939. He was an outstanding football player while attending Kelvin High School, and continued his passion into adulthood, first as a player, then manager and president of the four-time national champion St. Vital Bulldogs senior football team.

He worked in finance, construction, and mobile home sales, and then ran his own mobile home service firm for 15 years. When he retired in 1991, he volunteered to work five days a week with Habitat for Humanity in Winnipeg, and again later in Calgary, where he moved in 1995. Altogether he put in 18,548 volunteer hours and helped build 118 homes. In 1955, he married Irene Hopper (1927-1999), with whom he had two children.

He died at Calgary, Alberta on 6 September 2005.

Sources:

Obituary [Irene Hooper], Calgary Herald, 5 April 1999.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 September 2005.

Walter Albert “Wally” Hooper, Kathleen Soltero Family Tree, Ancestry.

This page was prepared by Lois Braun.

Page revised: 18 January 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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