Richard Cornelius Hooks was born December 24, 1944, in Lynch, Kentucky to the union of the late Hosea Hooks Sr. and Catherine Spencer. He transitioned from this earth on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, in Fort Wayne, Indiana after a lengthy illness.

Richard was educated within the Lynch and Akron Public School systems and graduated from Central High School in 1963. While at Central, he was a member of the Wildcat track team and the varsity football team. In high school, he worked as a garment presser at Richmond Brothers in Akron and retired from General Motors in 2003 as a team lead at the Fort Wayne Truck & Bus Plant. Richard was laid-back and fun-loving; he never met a person or party that he didn’t like. During his later years, he enjoyed reminiscing with his grandsons about his life experiences. Richard loved listening to R&B and cherished his vinyl record collection. His children’s fondest memories are of listening to his LPs early on Saturday mornings. His hobbies included playing baseball with his Baby Grand team members and fishing with his wife and brothers.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents; loving wife of 36 years, Willie Mae Hooks; brothers, Arthur Snowden and Hosea Hooks Jr; aunt, Ethel Mitchell; father-in-law, Willie Carroll; brother-in-law, Major Green and sisters-in-law, Doris Carroll-Rodgers and Linda Carroll.

He leaves to celebrate his life and carry on his legacy daughters, Kimberly Hooks, Lynn Puryear (Jerry),  Son-Ja Smith  (Nathaniel), Nikki Johnson, Shannon Hooks, and Michelle Beach; granddaughters, Ryan Strong, Britney and Brandi Johnson, Jayilah Church and Sylver Banks;  grandsons, Tyler Hooks, Xavier Hamilton, Malcolm Hamilton, Jared Puryear and Amarie Avery; brother, Edward T. Hooks (Deloris) of Battlecreek, Mich.; sisters, Inez Watson and Dorothy Green of Cleveland, Ohio and Brenda Benson (Willie) of Akron, Ohio; sisters-in-law, Johnnie Snowden, Roblyn Hooks, Lucille Burney, Christine Simon (Leon) and Bernice Mitchell (Charles), all of Akron and Jeanette Conley, of Beloit, Wisconsin; first wife, Erma Hooks; special friends, George Johnson, Jimmy  and Cornelius Hightower, Norman Fears and Louis Johnson all of Akron and Stan Kennedy of Hilton Head, South Carolina; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other family members and friends.