Homer U Vanhooser

Homer grew up on the family farm east of Alhambra, Madison Co IL.  After the death of his mother, when he was 9 years old, he and his younger brother Jack were responsible for the cooking for his family.  He remembers standing on a stool in order to reach the stove.  He attended the Hazeldell one-room school in rural Madison Co, and graduated from Livingston High School.  He also attended Summer's College of Commerce in East St. Louis, and earned his room and board by stoking the furnace in his boarding house. 

In 1940 he enlisted in the US Army.   His pay was $18 per month and he supplemented his income by working nights as a billing desk clerk at Hunter Packing.  When he entered the Army he went directly to work as the secretary to a Colonel in the St. Louis recruiting office.  He was in the Army for three months before he was issued a uniform (which was too big for him, the sleeves had to be rolled back).  He had no real basic training; he spent some training time with the MO State Guard; this consisted of:  "about 1/2 hour of close order drill, somebody would talk to you about training, and then the last guy to the tavern had to buy the beer."  After he was promoted to warrant officer in 1942, Homer finally took basic training.

While working in the recruiting office, Homer typed Harry S. Truman's discharge papers from the Army (my note:  this must have been from the MO National Guard, Truman separated from  the US Army in 1920) ; Truman was getting ready to run for Vice President and had to leave the service.  Truman gave Homer tickets for the St. Louis opera; Homer promptly gave the tickets to someone else since opera was not his idea of a good time.

From MO, Homer went to Ft. Warren, Cheyenne WY where he served as a clerk/typist and supply officer under Major Wadleigh.  While in Cheyenne he was responsible for part of the supplies being readied for D-Day. 

Homer was stationed in Hawaii, Guam and spent 5 months in Okinawa during the war.  He served in Korea for two months right after the war.  When he returned to the US after the war, one of the men on the ship had Scarlet Fever and the  ship was quarantined off of Portland OR on New Years Day.  He recalls the kindness of the people of Portland who sent food and supplies to the ship.

Following the war, Homer went to Denver CO with the "organized reserves"  He was in Denver one month and enrolled at Denver University while awaiting his discharge from the Army.  During this month, he took a test with IBM (a "new" company at that time) but, thinking that nothing would come of that, and after consultation with his wife, he re-enlisted in the Army and was promoted to Master Sgt.  Two days after he re-enlisted, IBM offered him a position.

From 1946-1949 Homer served in Topeka, KS with the Reserve and National Guard Headquarters as a clerk-typist. 

From 1949-1952 Homer served as the assistant Club Officer under Maj. John Olin in Heidelberg, Germany.  During this time Homer also contracted Polio and was nearly removed from the Army.  His strong will and the help of a nurse who had rehabilitation experience helped him recover from the Polio and stay in the service.

From Germany, he was transferred to Ft. Lee VA for 9 months where he attended school and was accredited for advanced course procurement.  He was then sent to Jeffersonville, IN where he served as the Army Depot Procurement Officer.

From 1954 to 1957 Homer was stationed in Japan, first serving as Club Officer at Camp Schimelfenig while the family lived at Tagajo.  Then he served as Club Officer and later as Commissary Officer at Camp Sendai.  The family lived on post at Sendai.

Following his return from Japan he was Commissary Officer at Ft. Mc Nair in Washington DC from 1957-1960.  For six months of 1961 he went to Subsistence Technology School at Ft. Lee VA and then returned to Ft. Mc Nair as Club Officer from 1961-1962.

Homer retired from the Army in 1962 and the family moved to Denver, CO area where he intended to work for the commissary at Fitzsimmons Medical Center.  After only a few weeks  he took a position as an Agent for New York Life in Colorado Springs.  The family lived in the Security/Widefield area  and  Homer was the Junior Warden of the vestry at St. Raphael's Episcopal Chapel.  He later served as the treasurer and president of the Building Fund; at that time there was no sanctuary, services were held in the parish hall; the sanctuary was built in 1967. 

 Homer retired from New York Life in 1988 but continued to write a few policies and service his old policies.  While with New York Life Homer was a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table. 

After their children left home, Homer and his wife moved to Elm Avenue in the Broadmore area of Colorado Springs.  Homer turned most of the back yard into a garden and fought regularly with the septic tank and the repairs and upkeep on the house.  In 1994 they moved to the Old Broadmore Road Town homes and Homer established a small garden there also.

Homer served on the vestry of Chapel of Our Savior Episcopal Church in the Broadmore area, and  was also treasurer and president of the Chapel of Our Savior Columbarium where his cremains are inurned.

In the fall of 1996 Homer was diagnosed with ALS and progressive dementia.  He slowly lost use of his muscles and especially of his powers of speech.  The last years of his life were spent mostly at home with his wife, watching television, going for walks, and enjoying the company of the family beagle, Snoopy.  He died at home with  his wife, daughter, and son at his bedside on May 3, 1999   

Throughout his life Homer was a kind and gentle man who had a devilish twinkle in his eyes, loved a good joke, gardening, golf, bowling, poker, cribbage, beagles,  and most of all his family.  His devotion to his wife was  truly deep and abiding.

He was a loving father who taught by example and lived his life in gentleness and humor.