The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1961-02-24
4 DEDICATED EXPONENT OF
GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY
hxvicToR MEEKlNS

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and his passing is most keenly
felt because l appreciated his fine
qualities of friendliness and neigh
borly spirit. l had great affection
for his parents, for they We're true
and honest friends, and his father
was distantly related to mine. Lew
is Hooper was as plain as an old
shoe, and he was always the same
in dcmeanor, whenever and where
ever one saw him. When he was
fisherman, he loved to give fish
to his friends; as a neighbor, he
liked to be helpful in time of need.
AS one who went out of his way
to serve the sick, or to sit up by
them, it was more the pity that he
was confined to his bed so long
with lingering illness.
To be a friend to everyone, Lew
is Hooper often went above and
beyond the call of duty. 1 have
never forgotten the day when Har-
vey Best and Miss Goldie Gray
of Stumpy Point came to Manteo,
to be married. Lewis Hooper, Har-
vey's devoted friend, considered it
an occasion when he might be of
help to a friend embarking on so
grave an undertaking. 1t was on
April 80, 1928, near the end of
the fishing season, when it was
customary for fishermen to settle
up their affairs, divide their prof
it's, pay their taxes. and make
plans for other undertakings. Dick
Best and Goldie decided they would
launch out on the sea of matri-
mony. Lewis came along to help,
and to stand up in a quiet we'd
ding performed in Manteo by the
late Rev. ]. M. Jolliff, Methodist
minister.
Lewis gladly assumed manage
ment of the post-marital celebra-
ton. Where they went for dinner.
I don't recall. bnt l know that the
party rented a Ford from the late
John Coles Evans, and Lewis set
ont to give thnm a Guided tour of
the coast of Mays Head. with him
~n'f as chauffeur. In those days
there wasn't foot of hard road
from Manteo to any other place,
and driving on the beach was
something that no beginner could
do efficiently, as Lewis soon found
out. He was skimming along down
the surf. and Dick and Goldie were
sure that their romance would new
err fade away, when Lo! this old
Ford settled in a bed of gravel.
Lewis was soon an unhappy man;
he had worked and sweated and
strained until he had reached the
point of exhaustion. He was hu-
inflated at having gotten his
friends in trouble.
1t was late in the evening when
I came up the beach, and discov-
cred the wedding party in their
predicament. l am sure that it was
most discouraging to Dick and Col
die. 1t happened 1 had been down
to Bodie Island, maybe to visit
someone at the lighthouse or the
Coast Guard station, and whoever
was with me, assisted in getting
their car out of the gravel, and
saw that they got back to Manteo
with it.
1t was a pleasure to do some
thing for Lewis Hooper, who al
ways wanted to help other folks,
but a greater pleasure to see the
relief and happiness on the face of
the newlyweds, who considered
themselves at last liberated from
an unhappy predicament. But fur
Their disappointment was in store.
The party went to the Tranquil
House, Manteo's hotel at the time,
where the newlyweds had a room,
but their good friend Lewis Hoop
err found there were no more rooms
left. 1t was too late at night to go
out to the home of friends. He
was helped up the steps and fol-
lowed Dick and Goldie into their
room, and lay down on the floor,
refused to bulge, and there he
spent the night. He didn't have
the strength to go farther.
Be it said for Lewis, that he
was so highly regarded by this
pair, they didn't have the heart to
turn him out, and they let him
sleep there as soundly as Old Tom
on the stage of the Lost Colony.
Perhaps they sat up the rest OF
the night. Many times since, Dick
and Goldie have been ribbed about
the time Lewis was best man at
their wedding.
Having long ago gotten away
from the giving of flowers, by max
ing a contribution to some deserv-
ing cause on the death of friend,
I shall make a donation to the
Cancer Fund in memory of Lewis
Hooper. For he had a lingering
illness from this enemy of man.
kind, and it was useless for his
friends to visit him. Our hearts
have been cruelty wrung during
this winter upon the death OF so