KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU “Knowing Me, Knowing You…” is a way of sharing with each other and finding out more about our church family. Mike Cosser is our interviewer/researcher and editor, and this time he has searched out and probed into Louie Hooper's life….. As always, it was a delight to meet up with Louie, and interview her. Louie was born in Coventry and Warwick Hospital in 1921, and at the time her family were living in Craven Street, Earlsdon in a watchmakers house. When she was about three, the family moved to a cottage in Brinklow, and she remembers wanting to worship from her childhood days. From the age of seven, she went to Church, and Sunday School at John the Baptist Church of England Church in Brinklow, and in the evening she would go to the Chapel at the bottom of the village. She remembers that this was frowned upon by the Church of England folk, but she went anyway. On Saturday mornings the Seventh Day Adventists would come into Brinklow, and a Service would take place in the Village Hall, and Louie would go to that as well. She also remembers attending their college in Newbould Revill, where she might get fed too. The family moved back to Coventry, and Louie then began to attend the Salvation Army Service on a Sunday night, which was held under the clock in the old Market Hall. Louie remembers loving the singing to the Lord. Louie met her future husband, Herbert Leslie Hooper, known as Leslie on London Road, Coventry in 1936. They got married in 1940, after which he was called up into the Army. He served in Northern Ireland for the duration of World War two, and the couple got to see one another about twice a year for the first five years of their marriage. Leslie was discharged in about 1946, and the couple were able to put a deposit on their house in Silksby Street. They had two sons Neil (born 1947) and Lawrence (born 1950). Both boys went to Quinton Park Baptist Church and to the Boys Brigade, and were present for the opening of the new Church. Prior to that they had worshipped at Manor Park School, before the Old Hall was built. Louie knew she had found her niche at Quinton Park, and she was baptised by Ken Parkhurst. Neil now lives in North Wales, and he is married with two sons and a daughter, and Louie has four great grandchildren. Lawrence is living on the Costa Blanca in Spain, with his wife Susan. He still works as a magician, entertaining corporate clients and children. He has a son and a daughter in Coventry and Louie has great grandchildren here. Louie’s husband Leslie worked as a fitter for Rootes, on their track. He played a lot of football for many years both for Rootes, and for a hard of hearing team, who recruited him, via a work mate. He later arranged all the fixtures for that team, home and away, for many years. Leslie retired at the age of sixty five, and was still very active, until he contracted cancer, which later became widespread in his body, and Louie nursed him for some 4 years, before sadly he died in 1994. Louie was the President of the local Baptist Women’s League, and she spoke at Ladies Meetings all over Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond. Her twelve months in office was hard work, but she enjoyed it. Louie lived at Silksby Street alone for some ten years, but she began to get frail, and fell and broke her nose in the back garden, which meant it made some sense to get some more support. And so, she moved to Bevan Court in 2004, and is very happy there. Louie has a variety of health issues now, but would not want to impose her troubles on anyone, and she is resolutely cheerful, has a beautiful spirit, and is a positive character to be around. She told me that she ends her every day with prayers for those around her in the Lodge, for the staff and the residents alike. She also prays for news events such as Madeleine McCann, and her disappearance. She told me that she is not as good as she would like to be, but it seems to me that she is a fine human being. Louie is a regular at the evening services, and these days either gets a lift, or arrives in her electronic chair. Thank you Louie for sharing yourself and your life with us. We are proud of you, and of your journey with Christ. We love and cherish you dearly, and know you want to kiss and love us all.