Shirley A. Hooker, 89

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina — Shirley Asenath Hooker, 89, passed away on May 4, 2015, in Winston-Salem, NC, following a sudden illness.

Shirley was born August 3, 1925 in Goffstown, NH, the fifth of seven children born to Luther D. and Alice M. Colburn of New Boston, NH. Shirley grew up on a small dairy farm and attended school in New Boston, skipping two grades to graduate as Salutatorian at age 16. After graduating from Keene Teachers’ College in Keene, NH, she moved to Laconia, NH, to accept a teaching position at Gilford Avenue Elementary School. There she met and married Leonard B. Hooker on February 22, 1947. Shirley left teaching to raise five children, then returned to teaching.

After 13 years of teaching in Laconia, Belmont, and Canterbury, NH, Shirley became a licensed massage therapist and worked under her business name ‘The Muscle Mender’ until age 82. Shirley lobbied the NH State Legislature to recognize therapeutic massage as a legitimate business and was instrumental in developing uniform testing for massage therapists. She served 12 years on the NH State Board of Massage and held offices in the American Massage Therapy Association chapters in NH and MA. She worked her massage magic at 15 consecutive Boston Marathon races and the Olympic Games in Calgary, AB, and Atlanta, GA. Shirley was a gifted massage therapist, helping her clients regain mobility and maintain a higher quality of life.

In her later years, Shirley transcribed four years of her great-grandfather’s diary. This diary proved instrumental in obtaining a conservation easement on the 150 acres of land he farmed in Bradford, NH.

Shirley is missed by her family: son Alan Hooker (Emily) of Bozeman, MT; daughters Diena Rae of Edmunds, ME, Susan Mansfield of Savage, MN, and Wendy Hooker (Tom Payer) of Fairbanks, AK; 17 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.

Shirley is predeceased by her parents Luther and Alice Colburn; two brothers, Martin (Bud) and David Colburn; four sisters, Hazel Wallace, Margaret Ford, Frances Ellingwood, and Dorothy Foley; and son, Bruce Hooker.

Shirley’s ashes will be placed in the family plot in the New Boston Cemetery in New Boston, NH, at 10:30 a.m. on August 14, 2022.