Ruby "Lee" Stauffer (Sug) (MIMI) Hooker

Born on July 18, 1924, in Pine Bluff Arkansas, to John Ward Stauffer and Ruby Lee Elliott Stauffer. She was named for her mother, she always hated the name. At some point the family started calling her "Sug" for "Sugar" which she liked much better, so that name stuck. 

She was the second of three children, her older brother, John Wesley Stauffer, died before his first birthday of influenza. 

Her younger brother, Billy James Stauffer was 5 years younger. They were very close.  See above article for information about Bill and his loss in the Korean War.

Being the only girl she was doted on by all the family, especially her grandfather, John W. Elliott, and grandmother, Della Henderson Elliott. as well as her Aunts Lorraine Elliott Kirk, Penny Elliott Russell, Hazel Elliott Maxwell, and Celeste Stauffer Wooten .

She was very much the tomboy, preferring to play "boy games", she loved climbing trees and roller skating. She says she would trade her dolls for a pair of skates. She was not a great student, but loved the social aspect of school. Her mother was her hero and they were always very close, speaking almost every day. They were partners in crime, traveling all over the country. 

When Lee was 5 years old, she injured her ankle and the doctor told her mother that giving her dance lessons would help strengthen the ankle and help it heal. Little did they know that this would set her on her life's work, and she has danced professionally and privately for her entire life. Dancing was the thing that brought her together with her future husband. More on that later.

She began dancing at the Sara Russell Studio in Pine Bluff and by the time she was 12 or 13 she was teaching and assisting Miss Sara in operating the Studio. She says that she loved Miss Sara and would run to her studio every day after school and be there all day on Saturdays. 

By the time she was 14, she began taking in her own students and at the age of 15, opened her own studio in the tiny living room of her parent's home on 8th Ave in Pine Bluff. She continued to operate her studio for the next 9 years until she moved to Memphis in 1948. She organized and held two Recitals a year most of the time at the beautiful Saenger Theater in town. At the age of 17, she was named one of the Top 5 Leading Business Women in Southeast Arkansas.

She would teach everyday during the school year then over summers would travel all over the country taking class from some of the most well known dancing instructors in the 40's, in order to learn the latest dances. Always with her mother along as a chaperone. In addition to taking class in Memphis with our own Martha Scott, they would travel to St Louis, Detroit, Chicago, New York and LA.

In the summers, she and her mother would drive out to LA  where she would take class with notable instructors such as Jimmy Burchell, John Bushallow, Carlos Romero, Theodore Kosloff, and Nico Charisse. Then she would perform with shows such as Bing Crosby's Caravan, and Abbot and Costello's Musical Comedy Review. 

She even appeared on the TV game show Queen for a Day. And when in New York she tried out for the Rockettes but she was too short.!

 One of her instructors offered her the chance to stay in LA at the end of the summer to appear in a movie, one also offered her a teaching job in his studio, but she chose to return to Arkansas to her students in Pine Bluff. She says today this is her one big regret. 

Finally in 1948, she decided it was time to leave Pine Bluff and took an opportunity to become an Airline Stewardess for Chicago Southern Airlines.

This is a picture of Sug and her brother Bill at the Peabody Skyway Lounge sometime in 1950.

She stayed with Chicago Southern for about two and a half years, taking advantage of the chance to travel again with her mother to such places as Havana, Miami and New Orleans. In 1949-50, she continued her dancing by joining the faculty at the first Ballet School in Memphis, the Academy of Dancing Arts and appearing in the dance chorus at the Memphis Open Air Theater (AKA The MOAT). Then, in 1951, the final season of the MOAT she was named assistant dance director and Choreographer.

also in 1951 she decided that it was time to settle down, and went to work for the First National Bank as a teller. It was at this job, in the spring of 1952, that a very shy young man, Henry Hooker, who worked in the Trust Dept, came up to her teller cage and asked her if she liked to dance! HAHA  yes I think so! She married him 3 months later. Their daughter, Karen, was born the next year and their son, Hank, was born two and a half years after that.

By this time her parents had moved to S Memphis, and she and Henry lived with them in the attic bedroom until they could save up the $100 to put a down payment on a new house in the new suburb of Parkway Village. They built the new house at the corner of Brookdale and Bondale in early 1959. 

This picture was taken in the living room of the house in Parkway Village, with her is her mother-in-law "Necie"Hooker Povall. AKA "Necie Mama."

So she began her new career as a wife and mother. She loved this life too, though she hated to cook, but she was an excellent housekeeper, and loved to host all kinds of neighborhood events and parties. Hank remembers entertaining the neighborhood  moms and kids with plays and dance parties in the carport of their home there. At some point she was a Brownie Scout leader for Karen's troop and a den mother for Hank's Cub Scout Troop. 

She was also very involved in her Church, Calvary Episcopal in Downtown Memphis. 

She has a strong Christian faith and made sure that her children went to Church and Sunday School. 

When Henry began to work with George B Jones CPA firm, he traveled almost weekly; so Lee was in charge of all aspects of running a household on a daily basis. That included home repairs, yard work, car repairs, and medical emergencies. She developed a network of mechanics, handymen and Doctors, who could be there at moment's notice to help her. One story goes that Dr George Jenkins came to make a house call one snowy day when Karen was sick, at the Brookdale house in Parkway Village. His VW Bug got stuck in the snow and Dr Jenkins and Henry and one or two other neighbors picked up the Bug and got it back out on the street. There are a million stories like that.

They later moved to the house on Barfield in 1964, to take advantage of better schools. It was at about this time that they began to enjoy a very socially active lifestyle and enjoyed great times and many friends. She began to be involved in ladies' community service organizations such as the Nineteenth Century Club and The King's Daughters and Son's. She loved being a worker and spent many days fundraising for various community events, such as the Germantown Charity Horse Show, and the Cotton Carnival. She, also, spent many days during Lent working at the Calvary Waffle Shop, and throughout the year visiting and caring for the residents at the King's Daughter's Home for Incurables. 

She and Henry had all kinds of fun. They enjoyed travelling, and when the kids were small, they took long trips to The Rockies, Yellowstone, and family trips to Florida and Georgia. By the time I met them in 1974, they had begun to travel more since Karen and Hank were in college, and they had more time.

They went to Rome, The Bahamas, San Fransisco, St Thomas, and England where they rode on the Orient Express and since it was a very busy day they promptly fell asleep as the train crossed the English Channel. Oh well.

Mimi's biggest joy was when her grandchildren were born. She and Henry enjoyed helping with babysitting and Matt and Beth and later Stephen and Sara, spent many nights at their house being spoiled. She helped provide dancing lessons for about 5 years for Matthew and Beth, and even helped Stephen and Sara except Stephen was not interested; so she helped get Sara into Ballet Memphis for a year or two. As it turns out, like her children, none of her grandchildren got the dancing bug. 

Henry retired in 1989 and they spent the next few years traveling and watching Henry play golf. Sadly, he developed lung cancer in September 1991, and she spent the next six months caring for him until he passed away in March of 1992.

She continued to live in the home on Barfield for about 5 years until the care and maintenance became too much; so she sold it and moved to a little 2 bedroom house in the Hickory Hill area. She was still very active in her community service groups and helping care for her grandchildren.

In 2003, after lots of thought and consideration, Lee decided that it was time for another change of scene; so she sold this little house and moved to Kenner, LA to be near Karen and son-in-law, Richard.  She really loved the warmer weather of Louisiana, but the deciding factor was that the quality of life, and cost of living for older persons is better in the Louisiana. She, also, wanted to spend more time with Karen, as she had not been able to do since Karen moved to the coast in the 70's.

Here she is with a painting by granddaughter, Sara.

Here with her great grandson Levi Hooker. And one of Karens pomeranians.

This was Christmas 2011.

Here with Richard, Karen and Hank.

She thoroughly enjoyed her life in Kenner, she was active with her neighbors in the Westminster Independant Living center there and enjoyed life in the New Orlean's area in general.

In 2013, she fell and broke her leg and spent several months in the hospital and rehab center. After this episode she really started to slow down, but mainly enjoyed reading and watchin tv.

Finally in early 2020 she started having some serious health problems, it was discovered that she had serious anemia and congestive heart failure.

 In March, just before the Covid 19 pandeminc shut down everything, we were fortunate to be able to visit her with the grandsons Matthew, Stephen, Great-grandson Levi, Granddaughter Sara and Sara's husband, Jay Bhagwan. 

 In May, Karen took her to the ER where they treated her for pneumonia and anemia, she spent the next several weeks in and out of the hospital and then she was placed in a skilled nursing home in July. 

She passed away in her sleep on the morning of August 7, 2020.

 

2Lt Bill James Stauffer

Bill James Stauffer

Born January 10, 1929 died January 28, 1953

Several times a year, but especially around the end of May on Memorial Day, we take time out to remember Bill. He was our Mimi's younger brother, who was shot down over N. Korea and has never been returned to the US.

This year I thought I would take the time to get to know him a little better. Mimi has spoken about him many times, but Hank and Karen never really got to know him, because he died before either of them was born. In fact, Mimi was seven months pregnant with Karen when they got the telegram. Which is a story in and of itself.

Like Mimi, Bill was born in Pine Bluff, Ark. to John W. and Ruby Elliot Stauffer. He was 5 years younger than his sister "Sug", and she decided he was her new play toy. She loved him immensely and they were very close throughout the 24 years of his life. Partners in crime you might say.

Bill was active in sports and music, playing both football and basketball, as well as playing the trumpet in high school. He was not a great student, but graduated in 1947, from Pine Bluff High School.

He always helped "Sug" with her dancing studio and helped her put on her dance recitals. He would help with scenery, heavy lifting, go-phering, and often danced in the recitals, when a partner was needed for one of the girls.

One of his friends from high school relayed a story once about how he and Bill wanted to buy this old truck, but the engine wasn't working; so Pappy came over and attached the truck to his car with a rope and towed it to their house where he helped Bill and this friend rebuild the engine and they drove that truck all over SE Ark for years.

He attended Arkansas Tech and Arkansas State College, and afterwards moved to Memphis when his parents moved there in 1949. He worked part time at Goldsmith's Department Store, for a time before entering the Air Force in 1951.

He entered basic training in Greenville, Miss, where he met a young lady named Lydia Ross, who was a nursing student in Greenville. He entered flight training in Big Springs, Texas where he graduated in August 10, 1952. He and Lydia were married a few days later. He spent time training in Las Vegas, and then he was assigned to go to Korea in December.

I believe it was while he was stationed in Las Vegas that he met one of his heros, Ziggy Elfman who was a trumpet player with the Benny Goodman band. He must have impressed the man well enough, because Ziggy gave him a doeskin sport coat.  Hank used to wear it, when we first met, until the housekeeper, Rosie, accidentally washed it in the washing machine. I'll never forget how Mimi cried when she threw that coat into the trash, it was ruined. I probably would have kept it anyway, tried to dry it out, but we didn't think of it at the time.

Anyway, Bill arrived in Seoul, South Korea on December 22, 1952, the letters he wrote home on December 30th, 1952  and January 18, 1953, did not give away any of his activities over there, just explanations of his daily life like having to walk three buildings over from his quarters to shave and shower everyday and don't complain about the cold in Memphis because it was way too cold in Seoul, he did not feel sorry for them at home at all. Those kinds of things.

His letters show his personality somewhat, he always opened his letters with the word "People" not Dear Mom or Hi Mom and Pappy, just "People". too funny. But always closed with love, Bill. And there was a Christmas card that he had sent home and attached a 2 dollar bill to it, and he signed the card "2$Bill."

But what we know now is that he was flying patrols almost daily over the area called MIG Alley.

On the day he was killed, January 28 1953, they were in a dog fight with several Russian MIGs, the explanation of his actual death is unclear as to if he was shot down by one of the MIG's, by friendly fire or if he lost consciousness, but they only know he crashed into the Yalu River. At first, they thought he might have ejected, but after searching the area for several days, it was determined he was killed in the crash.

There is a military arm that hunts for servicemen who are killed behind enemy lines, and we have been getting reports from them periodically. There is a report showing the MIG pilots' debriefing account of the battle, in Russian, with a translation in English. They believe they shot him down along with another American plane, but Bill's was the only casualty in that particular incident.

Pappy always believed that Bill knew he was going to crash; so he deliberately crashed into a bridge over the Yalu River, as a last act of defiance, but there is no proof of that. All we know for sure is that his remains have never been returned to us, and we pray for that day when we can bury him on American soil.

 Sometime in 2017, Karen attended one of the briefing conferences in New Orleans, and she asked specifically if Bill was due any medals or citations. after a few months, she received six medals and ribbons in the mail. We had the purple heart already, but the 5 others were a surprise. She has since had them mounted in a frame for Mimi.

Among the many clippings and letters of condolences, we have both of the telegrams one from January 29th, notifying Bill's parents of his missing in action and then the one from February 1st notifying them that he was killed in action. We are not sure which one it was, but Mimi tells the story that she, Mommy, Pappy and Henry, were returning from being out to dinner when they found the telegram stuck to the front door of the house on Shawnee. Imagine the shock! When Karen relayed this story at the MIA/KIA conference, several people agreed that this was not unusual, that it had happened to them.

We also have a telegram that was sent on February 14th, allegedly from Bill wishing his family a Happy Valentines Day. I guess the service did this automatically, without checking to see if he was still alive on Valentines Day. I can only imagine how sad this was for Mommy to read.

Also, the Commercial Appeal Newspaper received the notice of Bill getting to Korea in the same packet that it received his death notice. Fortunately, someone caught it and did not run the first one but returned it to Mommy and Pappy, with their sympathies.

Whenever I think about Mommy and how painful this was for her, it makes me cry. She never talked about Bill, in fact no one ever mentioned him in her presence, that I can remember. I guess when he died she just threw herself into what was left of her family. Pappy talked about him all the time, but never in front of Mommy. It was a hole in her world that could never be filled. She died 24 years almost to the day after him, on January 27th 1977. sad.