I've always had a liking for Harry Hooper, he was a West Coast guy from the beginning, born not far from here in a town that no longer exists, he retired to the town where my office is located, and is buried walking distance from my home in a small church cemetery.
Following his retirement from baseball, Harry Hooper lived in Capitola and opened a real estate firm. He was named player-manager for San Francisco's minor league team in the Pacific Coast League in 1927.
Hooper was appointed postmaster in Capitola in 1933. He held that position for 24 years. He was active in civic affairs through the chamber of commerce and the improvement club. "He was one of Capitola's most prominent local citizens. Whenever something was going on in Capitola from the 1920s to the 1960s, he was involved," local museum curator Frank Perry said.
Hooper was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
Hooper died at the age of 87 in Santa Cruz, California. He had been healthy enough to attend that summer's Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and he had gone duck hunting less than a month before he died. Harry Hooper Jr said that Hooper had died of old age. He said that Hooper was the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame before his death.
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