Irmgard Auguste Hooper

HOOPER — Irmgard Auguste (Siemsen), 100; born June 29, 1917, Roundup, Mont.; died Dec. 29, 2017, at her home in Albany, Ore. Surviving: daughter and son-in-law, Jeanie and Daniel Reed, Albany; daughter-in-law, Carol Hooper, Grants Pass, Ore.; 3 grandchildren, Kristelle (Reed) James, College Place, Wash.; L. Kelly Reed, Riverside, Calif.; Jared Hooper, Corpus Christie, Texas; 4 great-grandchildren; 11 nieces and nephews; 19 great nieces and nephews; and 15 great-great nieces and nephews.

She was born Irmgard A. Siemsen, the third of five children born to Herman and Auguste (Hartwig) Siemsen in Roundup, Mont. She attended small, country schools in Montana and Idaho until enrolling at Yakima Valley Academy in the Yakima, Wash., area. She graduated there and continued her education at Walla Walla College (WWC) obtaining her bachelors' degree in modern languages in 1944.

While attending WWC, her older brother introduced her to John "Jack" Hooper. He and Irmgard were married on her parents' farm near Winchester, Idaho, on Sept. 3, 1944. She returned to WWC and taught languages there while Jack continued his education.

After his graduation in 1953, Irmgard taught modern languages for 39 years to academy studnets across the country: Auburn Adventist Academy in Washington state; Maplewood Academy in Minneasota; Walla Walla College Academy/Walla Walla Valley Academy in southeast Washington; Jefferson Academy in Texas; Sheyenne River Academy in North Dakota; Campion Academy in Colorado; and Rio Lindo Adventist Academy in California. After retirement in 1983, she joined her husband Jack on two years of mission service to Hawaiian Mission School and on a mission trip to Africa.

An avid homemaker, Irmgard always had a large garden and froze and canned the produce that wasn't eaten fresh by the family. Most summers would find the family traveling by car around the nation to explore parts as yet unseen - that is, when Jack and Irmgard weren't working on their master's degrees. In 1967, they were the first married couple to earn their master's degrees in the same graduation ceremony at Walla Walla College.

She also enjoyed birding, flowers (particularly roses), traveling, collecting sand and commemorative plates from around the world, as well as cook books. In 1963, she was invited to join an international educational opportunity for high school German teachers, co-sponsored by the German and American governments, as well as the Goethe Institute. She joined 20 other American teachers and 20 teachers from other countries of the world for a summer of travel and study in Germany. German was the only common language spoken by all the participants.

Irmgard's son, Clyde, died unexpectedly in 2002, and in 2005 Jack, her lifelong companion, closed his eyes to rest until Jesus' return. After reaching the advanced age of 90, Irmgard fell in love with Jesus all over again and chose to be rebaptized - because, as she put it, "Now Iknow what it means."

She was also preceded in death by her four sibling, a niece and a nephew.