Edward "Jack" Hooker

Just Cremation

Edward E. “Jack” Hooker, at age 93 of Ovando Montana, passed away at home on Montana Mountain View Ranch. A celebration of life will be held on August 24, 2024 at 1:00 pm at Bill & Dena Hooker’s residence in Ovando Montana.
Jack was born in Hermiston, Oregon on November 19, 1930. At age 6 he worked with his uncle, LaVern learning to ride and break horses for surrounding ranchers. This started his passion for working with horses, which lasted his entire life. He would take a “troubled” horse and turn it into a companion. He was gifted by being a true “horse whisperer”.
On a rainy night, at age 13, Jack took a saddle horse and a pack horse and headed for Nevada, crossing the high desert of Oregon. He found work riding rough stock on the Printey Brothers Ranch. Jack made a name for himself quickly by his strong work ethic and integrity and his ability to ride most any horse. These traits allowed Jack to find work with ease as his reputation went out ahead of him.
In the late 1940s Jack worked for Frank Morgan, running wild horses by horseback.  After he learned to fly, he used an airplane to gather the wild horses off the mountains & desert. After a few wrecks with the airplane, to which he walked away from, Jack ended his short flying career.
In 1951 he joined the U.S. Army, after basic training he volunteered for combat in Korea. Spending 3 years overseas, a small stint driving tanks and then as a lineman on the DMZ and in Seoul keeping the power on for the troops.
In 1954 he came to Montana and started working for Tom and Helen Edwards and the White Tail Ranch. Tom taught him the outfitting business. Outfitting allowed for Jack’s love of horses. He developed his love for people, and his storytelling to flourish.
Jack was also involved in the rodeo circuits riding saddle broncs and when money was tight, riding bulls. In 1956 Jack won saddle bronc competition in Toppenish WA, Nevada State Championship and Calgary Stampede. Jack had multiple winning rides and earned many belt buckles. One which he lost in the desert while running wild horses. It was found and returned to him again 60 years later. One of the many incredible stories Jack was the main character of.
In 1959 he married Marilyn Mercedo who helped him in the running horses and the outfitting business. They bought a small outfit at Wallowa Lake, Joseph, Oregon. After 6 years of traveling in the Eagle Caps and acquiring over 260 head of stock for the Egale Cap Pack Station, they decided to move back to Montana. In 1969 they bought the White Tail Ranch from Tom and Helen Edwards and were back in the “Bob” once again. Marilyn was in an unfortunate car accident resulting in her death on Jan. 17, 1972, leaving Jack and their three children.
In May 1972, Jack married Karen Geary.  Karen was a wife, mother, and a business partner. The White Tail Ranch became the cornerstone of Jack’s family & business. Thousands of guests came from all over the world to enjoy the beauty and magic of the Wilderness under their care, guidance, and spell binding stories.  Jack and Karen provided many years of adventures to hunters, campers, and nature lovers. Each guest as well as the many crew members that worked for Jack took some very special memories with them for the rest of their lives.  In 1996 the guest ranch portion of White Tail Ranch was sold and WTR Outfitters moved down the road to the horse pasture and they continued Outfitting until 2010 selling the Outfitting portion, and Montana Mountain View Ranch was born. Jack Outfitted for 55 years in the Eagle Cap and Bob Marshall Wildernesses. He was regarded by many as a true Mountain Man. Karen’s love for nature and adventure helped support Jack through all his endeavors for over 50 years.
At age 46 and 47 Jack participated in the Alaskan Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (1049 miles, Anchorage to Nome). Jack came in 19th in 1976 and 9th in 1977. Jack had a magical way with animals, especially ones with four legs. Even in his later years he was able to take in strays and turn them into pets.
Jack will be missed by family, friends, and hundreds of people that were able to share in his love for the wilds of the back country. He will be remembered for his amazing true-life stories, and ability to connect to animals. Jack’s legend will be carried on in the memories of his many friends and the backs of the animals that cut a trail through the wilderness of Montana.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Evertt Lou Hooker and Mary Franklin Hooker, 2 Sisters, Mary Mace and Betty Cohenour
Jack is survived by his wife of 50 years, Karen, 3 children, Bill (Dena) Hooker, Sandra Brown (Leon), Jodie Hooker.  Grandchildren, Mat (Sadie) Hooker, Andy Johnson (Cheyenne), Krystal Hooker, Rae Brown, Dale Malloy-Hooker. Great grandchildren Jacob & Macy Hooker, Bella, & Autumn Malloy-Hooker, Erykah & Elie Brown & Jace Keys.                                                                                Brother Brian Hooker, from Priest Lake Idaho, sister Betty Magnus, Hayden, ID and nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to:
Ovando Fire Dept. PO Box 29, Ovando, MT 59854
Ovando School, OSCEC, PO Box 176, Ovando, MT  59854
American Legion, Post 9, PO Box 234, Lincoln MT. 59639

Page Settings

Enter location name

Full Name

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Black Friday Offering

Honor Their Memory

- Including QR Memorial Plaques, Memorial Trees and our Keeper Plus and Concierge Memorial Plans

Now offering KeeperQR Plaques

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Title

A message title is required. Please update.

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

MEMORIAL TREE PLANTED

BEES PROTECTED

PLASTIC RECYCLED

CLEAN WATER

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

Organization name

Your name

To permanently remove this item, select Remove. To keep this item, select Cancel.

You have selected to delete {count} items from the Mementos Library. In doing so, these items will be permanently deleted from your library.  Do you wish to continue?

Thank you for your submission. All submissions are reviewed and must be approved before they appear on the page.

Thank you for you submission.

Web URL

Create a full picture of your community by creating individual Memorial pages for your family members, friends, and more.

Highlight the important people in {name}'s life by adding them as a Loved One. You can add someone via their {brandName} Memorial or Living Memorial page, or add their information manually.

Enter this Loved One’s email to let them know you have added them.

Add Loved One

You can only add an image for your Loved one by upgrading to Keeper Plus or creating a Memorial page for a Loved One that has passed away.

This is where the descripton will appear.

Add up to 50 photos and/or videos to create an album of a specific moment in {firstName}’s life. You’ll be able to reorder files and add captions to each file after you save.

Enter an album title

This is the album title

How would you name this album?

Album title

Enter album title

Group title (optional)

Used to mention your loved one throughout the memorial.

To avoid losing the previously generated text, we recommend copying and pasting the text to a secure location. If you wish to save the text, close this window, and copy the text to a secure location. If you are ready to generate a new version of your text, select the ‘Generate Story’ button.

Your current text will be removed

With just a few details from you, our AI-powered writing tool can draft a personalized and meaningful life story in a click.

The Obituary Assistant will take all the content you add to craft the perfect obituary. For the best possible results, please make sure all sections are completely filled out before generating.

Not displayed - used for your notifications only.

Used to display your relationship to {firstName}

Name

Who is this memorial for?

Use our Story templates to highlight a memory or event by adding unique details and a special layout.

New Offering

Create a video slideshow in minutes

Introducing Tribute Videos

Transform your profile page into a Living Memorial to start preserving your own legacy with photos, videos, and more. You can choose to keep your Living Memorial hidden until you’re ready to publish. Have more questions?

Create a Document Story

Enter a document title

Edit a Document Story

Upload an important document that signifies a moment in {firstName}’s life. This will display on your Memorial, so please don’t upload a death certificate, Social Security card, or anything containing sensitive information.

Document Story

What does this document represent?

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave mykeeper.com! (You're welcome to navigate away from this page and do other things on the site, as long as it's on mykeeper.com.)

We're getting your Mementos ready for download in a secure .zip folder, but it may take some time depending on your internet speed and file sizes. You'll need to stay on the site while this happens, so please don't leave our website.

Preparing your download

Change the name of this album in the field below

Edit the album title

You are creating and/or updating an event in the past.  If this was done in error, cancel and review your changes. 

Event is in the Past

Create an event page to coordinate a gathering in honor of {username}

To permanently remove this event and all corresponding data, select Delete. This cannot be undone.

Do you want to remove this event?

Share a link for guests to access a Virtual or Live Streamed Event

Share the event location to provide guests with directions

Choose if anyone on the internet can see event settings and RSVP options.

Only those with this password can access the event

Event privacy

Event RSVP

Choose if anyone on the internet can see who has RSVP'd to the event.

Guestlist privacy

Describe the event, including dress code, requests, or other important details

Enter important personal and family events like the birth of a child, a marriage, and more.

Select the <star>star icon</star> on a photo or video to display it in the Featured Mementos Section on the Memorial page. You can feature between 3 and 10 items.

Why are you flagging this?

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on any updates or additions that are made to this memorial page.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive email reminders for upcoming events containing the event details - 72hrs prior to the event occurring for {username}’s Memorial.

By clicking subscribe below, you will receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

By clicking unsubscribe below, you will no longer receive emails containing information on the most recent memorials added to {brandName}.

Welcome back, {name}

Welcome to {name}

Add a special touch to a memorial by including a beautiful emblem.

Story Title

What would you like to call this storyline?

Need examples? Try "{firstName}'s Life at University" or "A Lifelong Learner."

Add Interests or Milestones

Tell us about {name}'s life

Highlight the important people in {firstName}’s life by adding family members, friends, and more as Loved Ones. To get started, simply add existing {brandName} users and Memorial pages as Loved Ones, or add them manually by entering some basic information.

Section title

Add a map

Add markers to significant places, landmarks, cities, and other locations to create a personalized map that tells part of {firstName}’s life story.

Add a Map Story

What would you like to call this map?

Map Story

Enter a map title

Need ideas? Try something like “Places {firstName} Called Home” or “Favorite Vacation Spots”

Add a memento story

Add up to 100 photos and videos at once to your Memorial. You'll be able to add details, or feature as Stories later, if you like.

Add Mementos

Add Title or Text Story

Mementos are uploaded photos and videos that other users can like and comment on. If you'd like to highlight one of these and tell its story, you can transform them into Stories.

Updating your biography

A consolidated view of all the ways someone can honor the memory of your loved one (send flowers, donations, etc.).

Banner

This option allows users to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by removing the existing Keeper logo from the memorial page. This is particularly useful for those who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Remove Keeper Logo

Memorial Page Configurations

Allows visitors to the memorial page to purchase a tree in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Purchase a Tree

Allows you to show or hide the “Send Gift Basket” button in the memorial page banner, letting you choose how others can honor your loved one’s memory

Send Gift Basket

Allows visitors to the memorial page to send flowers or make donations in honor of your loved one’s memory.

Send Flowers

Sympathy Gifts

This option allows admin/editors the ability to customize the visual appearance of the memorial page by showing or hiding the display of  “Sympathy Gift Ideas” on the memorial page. This is particularly useful in assisting families who prefer a more personalized look for the page.

Memorial Configurations

Only you can see this page and all its content.

Replace the current background with one that feels right for the memorial.

We couldn’t use this photo. Try a different one.

Memorial Settings

Enhance portrait

Memorial Keepers

This page and all its content is now visible according to your privacy settings.

If added as a Keeper, you'll be able to manage and edit {keeped}’s profile

Request Keeper Access

Send a message to {name}

Check your inbox

The information you have entered will be lost if you close this window.

Are you sure you want to close this window?

Select ‘Submit Obituary’ to complete and publish this obituary, or select ‘Keep Editing’ to include additional information in the obituary.

Edward "Jack" E. Hooker

Tell us about Edward "Jack" Hooker's life

Add Mementos

Tell us about Edward "Jack" Hooker's life

Add Mementos