Robert B. Hooker; WWII Veteran, Somis Rancher

Robert B. Hooker, an Army veteran and descendant of a 19th century Somis ranching family, died Monday. He was 87.

Born May 15, 1910, he was the grandson of Robert Bell and Lucretia Rice Bell, who farmed the B.I. Bell Ranch in Somis for 42 years.

He attended grammar school in Fillmore, Oxnard and Santa Paula and spent his high school days at Oxnard High School. After graduating, he was employed by Seaside Oil Co.

He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 and trained as an aeronautical engineer.

Hooker served in the 8th Army Air Corps in England until his 10th mission, when his plane went down in Switzerland on Sept. 6, 1943, while being chased by enemy planes.

After a stint in the office of the military attache at the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, he returned home to care for his mother’s Lemon Ranch until it was sold in 1964. He then worked as a field manager for the Ventura Pacific Lemon Packing House until his retirement in 1983.

He is survived by his son, Albert Hooker of Fort Collins, Colo.; two sisters, Francis Hooker McElhinney of San Luis Obispo and Ruth Hooker Gisler of Camarillo; one brother, Frederick Hooker Jr., of Gonzales; two grandchildren; a great grandson; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Opal Hooker; two sisters, Virginia Hooker and Eleanor Hooker Case; and a brother, Thomas Bell Hooker.

Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at James A. Reardon Mortuary, 511 North A St., Oxnard. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the chapel of James A. Reardon Mortuary, with the Rev. Jerome E. Kahler of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church officiating. Interment will follow at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to St. John’s Pleasant Valley or St. John’s Regional Medical Center emergency room.