John Hooser laughs while walking the yard of the house he was born in, and in which he currently resides. He decided to come home to Clayton, Oklahoma in retirement after a long career as an educator and dedicate his time to serving his community and his tribe.
By Brandon Frye
Choctaw Nation
Clayton, Okla. - John Archie Hooser grew up at a simpler time in the heart of Choctaw country, in Clayton near the Tvshka Homma capitol grounds. He is the youngest child of the late Newt Hooser and late Helen (Hudson) Hooser.
He said, in his 90 years, he has lived a life where you would just had to have followed him around to fully understand. He would tell you about it anyway.
Hooser was born on Aug. 22, 1924, in a house still important to him.
“If you come down that road about a mile and a quarter,” Hooser said recently, pointing out from his seat at a local Clayton diner, “Make two 90-degree turns, and the white house up there on the left with the reddest roof you could ever imagine, that’s where I was born. That was my momma’s Indian-allotted land.”
Hooser recalled his mother telling him he was born on the hottest day she had ever seen. His mother also explained a local, Dr. Huckabee, came out to the house in a buggy to perform the delivery when there wasn’t much road for the trip.
Hooser said he grew up when bread was a dime and you rode horseback, because that’s all there was—there were automobiles, but they were for rich folks. He recalls the tree he used to secure his horse when coming into town, and remembers trips with his family by team-and-wagon.
Speaking of his family growing up, Hooser said they grew a crop to supply feed for the cattle and horses. He had five siblings, three brothers and two sisters. He had spent some free time riding and roping.
“I always had a dog by my side,” Hooser said. “Spike, a German police dog, was one of my dogs. I would take the dog with me to get the mail and let the dog put the mail in its mouth to carry home.”
The Hooser family was a live-off-the-land sort of people. But his parents also saw education as a very important thing.
“Even though my mother and father did not have a strong education,” he said, “they were of the mind that their children should better themselves by having an education.”
Education had already played an important role in the Hooser family line, even before John was born. His grandfather, Peter Hudson, was at one point the superintendent of the Tvshka Homma Female Institute. Grandfather Hudson got an early start academically after being handpicked by the chief at the time to travel outside of Indian Territory to earn an education—a story John Hooser would gladly pass on.
Speaking of his grandfather Hudson, Hooser said, “He got about a sixth-grade education, then the Choctaws decided they needed members of their tribe to be educated so they could help in the days to come. They selected about 10 people, and my grandfather Peter J. Hudson was one of them.”
After a horseback ride from Eagletown, Oklahoma to Missouri, his grandfather found his education at an academy now called Drury University.
Hooser would unintentionally mime the academic actions of his grandfather Hudson. After earning a high school diploma from the Tvshka Homma School, serving in the Navy, working in the lumber industry, then attending both Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma State University, Hooser made an academic exodus to Missouri.
“I went to Missouri, and it was only supposed to be for three years,” he said. “I was there 28 years. OSU offered me a job here teaching chemistry and botany, full fellowship. But the state of Missouri tripled my salary if I led their science education. So I went to Missouri.”
Before the big move, however, Hooser met his wife, Lucille. The two had been near each other as strangers since high school. John attended Tvshka Homma and Lucille attended rival school Clayton. They met later while attending Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton. The two moved to Missouri and dedicated their lives and careers to education.
During his long stint as an educator, Hooser’s work was noticed and rewarded. He said he got involved in science education nationally and was elected president of the Council of State Science Supervisors. This position had him playing a key role in directing and improving school science programs. He travelled across the U.S. inspecting their science programs and working to make them better.
John and Lucille had three children, each carrying on the torch of education started by their great-grandfather Hudson. Daughter Hoitema went to Missouri to study and become a nurse, taking similar steps to her father and great-grandfather. Son Paul is now a professional golfer. Son Philip is a professional actor, playwright, and director.
In 1991, once John and Lucille Hooser reached the time of retirement, they wanted to come back home.
“Our daughter didn’t see why we would come back at the time,” Hooser said, “but I told her, Hoitema, that’s home.”
By home, he meant on his mother’s allotted land, at the white house up on the left with the reddest roof you could ever imagine—where he was born.
Now, Hooser spends his time caring for his land, talking the ears off Clayton locals, and working to make his community and his tribe better.
“I volunteered my time when I retired, I’m 90 years old,” Hooser said. “I told both chiefs [Pyle and Batton] I was going to give the rest of my life to my tribe. So whatever I can do, I’ll do.”
Dedicating his time to serve others is a trait Hooser picked up from his parents, and it has been with him his entire life. He said he keeps a particular lesson his parents taught him close.
“Both of my parents were honest, and they taught us to be helpful. My dad taught me the best lesson,” Hooser explained from the corner table of his hometown diner. “He never refused anyone in need. My father gave to people when he hardly had anything to give, but that’s the kind of fellow he was. And I live by that… Now, I’m going to have a piece of cake.”