April 04, 1933 - September 12, 2014
HOOD, John Richard (age 81) John was born on April 4, 1933 and passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 21, 2014. Raised in Pine Bluff, AR, by early entrepreneur E.W. Hood and his mother Melba Hood; John went by the name â??Dickâ? Hood. The youngest of six children, four boys and two girls, John was the last surviving sibling. As a young man, he was an excellent dancer and roller skater. He married Louise (Clay) Hood, from the same small town, and the wedding ceremony filled the church to capacity; the first to arrive was John, sitting on the church steps. After graduating from Pine Bluff High School, he received a bachelorâ??s degree in American history from the University of Tulsa, and his juris doctorate law degree from the University of Arkansas. He was a successful lawyer in Little Rock, Arkansas, until he took a job as a workerâ??s compensation judge in Indiana. He later worked as a federal Administrative Law Judge for the Social Security Administration; which he performed for the rest of his career, from 1974 to 2007 (40 years). John worked in Denver, CO, Billings, MT, and Spokane WA, where he was the chief judge of the Spokane office for about 20 years. John loved his wife and two children, Leslie and Steve, and his grandchildren Brianna and Sean. He enjoyed dogs and loved to travel, paint watercolor paintings, and read and study history. His focus with American history was mainly on the American Revolution and World War II. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of World War II, of which he had a particular fascination. He also loved to tell stories about his father and family, and was proud of famous ancestors in his past, including U.S. President James K. Polk. John was loving, generous and kind, and was beloved by his family and many friends. He was an extremely honest and a moral man, who prayed every day. He fought death for many years to stay with his family for as long as he could. John will be greatly missed. Community Cremation & Funeral Spokane Valley 13127 E. Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99216, (509)926-2020 Communitycremationandfuneral.com
