Catharine Moore Hooper
June 26, 1946 – Nov. 3, 2021
Catharine Moore Hooper passed away on Nov. 3, 2021 in San Rafael, California. She was a devoted daughter, “Auntie,” a proud American and a Citizen of the World. She was an adventurous, curious and respectful world traveler, and a faithful neighbor for 30+ years at her “Mill Valley Retreat” on Wainwright Place. She was 75 years old.
The first of Jack Edwards Hooper and Beatrice Church Witter Hooper’s three children, Catharine spent her childhood in Piedmont, California, earning honors at Havens Middle School and Piedmont High School, where she served as Senior Class Secretary in 1964. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in French with a Minor in Art History as a graduate of UC Berkeley’s 100th class in 1968. GO BEARS! She was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the Crop and Saddle Riding Club there.
Following a three-year stint with the Oakland Athletics during their 1972-1974 World Series championship runs, she pursued her passion for travel, and joined P&O Cruises in Los Angeles, which later became Princess Cruises (aka The Love Boat), serving in a number of roles over a decade. Returning to the Bay Area in the mid-1980s, Catharine continued her work in the passenger cruise industry at Royal Viking Line and Royal Cruise Line. These professional opportunities afforded her the chance to travel the world, experience new cultures and embody the spirit of a “Citizen of the World.” She took great pride in her contributions to the development and growth of the passenger cruise industry during her time in it.
A long-time lover of ships, due in no small part to her father, a decorated World War II Navy officer, Catharine served as the primary port agent for U.S. Navy, foreign flagged military and passenger cruise vessels for the Port of San Francisco. She also took on similar special assignments in San Diego, Port Everglades, Key West, Savannah, Boston, New York and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Additionally, Catharine served as the Maritime and Force Protection Director for San Francisco Fleet Week from 1995-2018, and was a member of the San Francisco Harbor Safety Commission (HSC) and the POSF MCAC (Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee).
She discovered a love for India during her later years, spending nearly half the year living in and exploring the country. More importantly, this led to her “adoption” of a Pushkar camel called Moti whom she sponsored for several years.
Catharine is survived by her sister, Martha Church Hooper and brother-in-law, Ali Erdogan Agca of Urla, Turkey, her brother, Thomas Edwards Hooper and sister-in-law, Christy Sweet Hooper of Stockton, her nephew, Julian Palavicini Soler III of Portland, Oregon, her three nieces, Stephanie Lisa Soler of San Francisco, Molly Kathleen Hooper of Arlington, Virginia and Betsy Church Hooper of Stockton, two great nephews, John Stassen Soler of San Francisco and Alexander Robert-Thomas Alums of Stockton, and several loving cousins.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Mill Valley Public Library Foundation, MVLF.org, 375 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941, or to a charity of choice.
A celebration of Catharine’s life will be scheduled in the Bay Area in the early part of next year. To be notified when and where the memorial will be held, email CMHInMemoriam@gmail.com. The family would also very much appreciate any memories, remembrances, stories and/or photographs you may have at the same email address.
(To place a Life Tribute in a Marin Community Newspaper, please contact Publisher Sherman R. Frederick via e-mail at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
Leave a Reply