[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 96 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO ADRIAN SPOTTEN HOOPER, A LEGACY OF MARITIME ACHIEVEMENTS

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                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
memory of Adrian Spotten Hooper, one of Pennsylvania's most 
distinguished business, maritime and community leaders. Mr. Hooper was 
Chairman of Penn's Landing Corporation, in Philadelphia, PA, during the 
area's initial development and head of the Independence Seaport Museum 
when it was moved to the waterfront. In fact, there would be no 
Independence Seaport Museum without Adrian's leadership.
  Mr. Hooper, born and raised in West Philadelphia, had been fascinated 
by the sea since his youth. He ran away from home at the age of 15 and 
tried to join the Merchant Marine, but was forced to return after his 
father intervened and arranged for him to sail on a Norwegian vessel in 
the North Atlantic for a few months. Mr. Hooper got sailing out of his 
system for a while, and graduated from Lower Merion High School in 
1941. But to the sea he soon returned. As soon as World War II broke 
out, Adrian joined the Navy. He wanted to be at sea and fight in the 
war so badly that he memorized the eye chart, because he was blind in 
one eye. He went on to serve our country as a torpedoman on a destroyer 
in the Atlantic and the Pacific until 1945.
  After the war, Mr. Hooper earned a bachelor's in business from the 
University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1950. That year, he 
married Elizabeth Wharton Shober, and they moved to Devon, PA. He also 
began his professional career as a dispatcher for Interstate Oil 
Transport Company in Philadelphia.
  Mr. Hooper's career was interrupted in 1951 when he joined the Army 
during the Korean War. He served stateside until 1953.
  After the war, Mr. Hooper returned to the Interstate Oil Transport 
Company and served as chief executive officer until the company was 
sold in 1981 to Southern Natural Resources.
  Mr. Hooper's public service began in the early 1970s, when former 
Mayor Frank L. Rizzo appointed him chairman of Penn's Landing 
Corporation. At the time, the 22.5-acre area along the Delaware River 
from Market to Lombard Streets, commemorating where Philadelphia began 
more than 300 years ago, was fallow. Under Mr. Hooper's direction and 
able leadership, Penn's Landing became an entertainment center.

  Mr. Hooper dedicated his life to maritime issues. He served as 
chairman of the American Institute of Merchant Shipping in the mid-
1970s. While president of the Independence Seaport Museum, then called 
the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, Mr. Hooper led a $15 million fund 
drive that enabled the museum to move from Chestnut Street to Penn's 
Landing in 1995.
  Mr. Hooper had many other exciting ventures outside of Philadelphia.
  In 1966, Mr. Hooper and the late Charles P. ``Pete'' Conrad, Apollo 
12 commander, founded Universal Space Net, a satellite tracking firm in 
California. The firm has done work for NASA, the Air Force, and 
aerospace firms.
  Mr. Hooper's first wife died in 1996, and he married Susan M. 
Borresen Hooper in 1999. In addition to his wife, Mr. Hooper is 
survived by daughters Suzanne, Elizabeth, and Dana; a son, Adrian Jr.; 
stepchildren Karen and Devon Walsh; and four grandchildren.
  Mr. Hooper's legacy will endure not only in the principles he stood 
for and the improvements he brought to Pennsylvania, but also his 
wonderful family, his wife and children. Mr. Hooper's legacy is sure to 
include his keen understanding that the most important elements of our 
maritime infrastructure are people--shipyard workers, commercial 
seafarers, merchant fleet operators, and many others who make America 
the maritime nation that it is today.
  Mr. Speaker, our region has lost an exceptional leader, and I have 
lost a good friend. I wish the family of Adrian Hooper my heartfelt 
condolences and may they find comfort in knowing that the many people 
he impacted deeply value his dedication and generosity and the example 
of his life and work. Adrian Hooper exemplified the spirit of service 
that has made this country great. It is proper to remember and honor a 
man of such worth and character with great respect for what he 
accomplished and stood for.

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