Tommy and his late wife, Patricia, Hooper enjoy a little break from the business world.
By Deby Jo Ferguson
Staff Writer
Tommy Hooper, 77, is the son of Albert and Cleo Hooper. Tommy was born on Qualla Road in Hayesville. He married Patricia Mease in 1966 and they had three children, Christy, Amy and Julie.
“Doctor Staton delivered me and charged $10, then when my brother Reggie was born, he delivered him too for $10. Inflation set in and prices went up some when my brother Michael came along and Doctor Staton charged $12 for delivering him,” Tommy laughed.
His older siblings were born on Bell Creek according to Hooper.
“I’m a workaholic I know because I’ve got all the symptoms and signs,” Hooper said. “When I was a kid my parents like everyone else were poor.”
Hooper’s parents raised their own corn, pigs, chickens, etc.
“When I was a little fellow, once a week I’d shuck about a bushel of corn, throw it across the handlebars of my bike and ride over to Jarrett Road where there was a corn meal. They’d make the cornmeal and I’d tie it on my bike and bring it back home.” Hooper said.
It was also his job to feed the hogs, chickens and other farm animals.
“My dad worked across the river at Boice Supply Company for 30-plus years and when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I went to work for Fred Waldroup at the feed meal. I washed the dirty chicken jars and filled them back up with fresh water. Then I’d crawl up under the old gas breeders and pull out the dead baby chicks,” Hooper explained.
When he turned 12 Hooper went to work at M.C. Moore grocery after school every day and all day on Saturdays.
“I made $15 a week working at the grocery. I paid for my younger brothers’ books and lunch money and bought all my school clothes. My dad worked but didn’t make a lot of money back then,” Hooper said.
“I worked every day I could and only missed two afternoons in seven years. That’s a pretty good record for a young boy. I even worked a half day before I left for the Army the next day. From age 12 to 19 I only missed those two afternoons working. I also bought my own car, tires and anything else I needed,” he said.
Hooper went into the military May 9, 1966, after volunteering for the Army during the Vietnam war.
“Before going into the military Patricia and I got married. We met in high school and became boy and girlfriend. We only broke up one time when we were dating in three years and she was so miserable that day the next day I took her back,” he laughed.
Tommy and Patricia got married three days before he turned 19. After going to basic training, he came home and worked unloading box cars of flour for Boice Supply with his dad to make enough money to go see Patricia who was going to school at Western Carolina University.
“After I went down to see her, I’d come home that night and work the next day. I only had two weeks and then I had to go back to my new duty station in Georgia. I was military police and after MP school I was sent to Germany on my way to Vietnam,” Hooper said.
As it worked out Hooper got to stay in Germany for a little over 15 months and his wife was able to go over and be with him for 11 of those months.
“The German government furnished a 56-room house for the highest-ranking American official in the area and I was one of the three that had the job of guarding him, his wife and children,” Hooper said.
According to Hooper the general’s son was your typical military brat but took a liking to him which made his job a lot more enjoyable. He got to watch movies with the general’s son in the entertainment room when he was left in Hooper’s care.
After 15 and a half months Hooper was asked by the general if he was going to re-enlist or go home.
“I told him I would be going home, that there was a lot of fish waiting back home for me to catch and that’s what I did,” he said.
Hooper said he had dreamed of becoming a state trooper since high school. “I went and signed up for state trooper school but my daddy’s politics wasn’t what they considered the right one so I couldn’t get into school. Now that’s a fact. They made me write down what my dad’s politics were and wouldn’t take me. I told them that just wasn’t right,” he added.
“When I came home, Patricia and I got us a mobile home. We’ve added on to it through the years and there’s a lot more room now. My dad was out on his route working so we had to get my father-in-law Paul Mease who worked as a school bus mechanic to sign for us,” Hooper said.
When he came home in 1968, he started work at B&T Grocery. “I could work all the hours I wanted, made assistant manager and stayed there for three years,” he said. “Then Harold Moore wanted me to be a salesman taking over his route when he bought Boice Supply and had to go off the road. I took his route and he was a hard man to replace. I serviced Clay, Cherokee and Graham counties selling wholesale groceries. I had 92 accounts which I did for five years,” he said.
That’s when Tommy and his wife bought what would become Tommy’s Market.
“I bought the store from Kent Beal who earlier purchased it from Mr. Moore. It was a rewarding job. You didn’t have to worry about getting laid off. I did a lot of credit back then and the older folks always paid their bill the first of the month when they got their social security checks. I’d have to cash their checks and that required going and getting a temporary loan each month for $20,000 so I’d have enough money to cash all the checks and they could pay their bill. Then in a couple days I’d take all the money and go pay it back to the bank. I did this every month,” Hooper said.
“Most people thought I had plenty of money, but I didn’t. I had to borrow it each month. I got a good education running that store.” Hooper said.
In 1987 he sold Tommy’s Market to Duncan Oil and bought Hayesville Family Restaurant from Paul Jones. In 1992 Hooper said Duncan Oil wanted out from under the store so he bought it back.
“Now I had the restaurant and the store with 18 full-time employees plus weekend help at the restaurant and five people working the store. At the restaurant you had to be like a one-eyed tom cat watching four rat holes at one time to make sure I didn’t lose a bunch of money.
“I worked better under stress and you had three stress points a day, breakfast, lunch and supper. I served meals to the old jail, three meals a day, seven days a week for 20 years and meals on wheels picked up. It was the toughest business I ever had. That’s why so many people don’t succeed in the restaurant business,” he said.
As the economy tightened the restaurant was closed and they rented it out to a few different people but according to Hooper that didn’t work out either, so the restaurant set empty for quite a while.
“I started a carpet cleaning business working day and night just to make ends meet while still making the mortgage payment on the restaurant even though it was closed. In 1999 I sold the Mountain Fresh Floor Care business and paid off the mortgage on the restaurant. I rented the restaurant out to Mariolino’s then in 2023 they bought it.”
“I do clean floors at commercial jobs around Hayesville and it’s great. No employees just me and the equipment, no huge taxes, no insurance, no compressors to replace, no workers comp and it cost me $485 dollars a month back when I had the restaurant just to have trash service every month. There’s a lot of expenses in running a restaurant. It was worse than stressful.” Hooper said.
“When I’m not working now I have my dog Molly with me; guess if I didn’t have her I’d just go crazy. She is my best friend and constant companion. I want to keep working locally doing the commercial cleaning and if I take a notion to go fishing, well then I’ll just go,” he concluded.