Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameOwen Heller Hoke 
Birth11 Aug 1922, Annville Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Death17 May 2017, Alaska
FatherElmer Rhodes Hoke (1892-1931)
MotherMary Virginia Heller (1892-1980)
Spouses
Birth12 Jun 1923, Landis, Rowan County, NC
Death3 Feb 2008, Trinity Oaks, Salisbury, Rowan County, NC
Burial6 Feb 2008, West Lawn Memorial Park, China Grove, Rowan County, NC
FatherJohn Ulysses Alexander (1871-1947)
MotherFannie Elizabeth Kirk (1883-1974)
Divorce
ChildrenO. Alexander
Stephen R.
Thomas E.
Margaret “Peggy”
Marriage1983
Notes for Owen Heller Hoke
Owen Heller Hoke
Owen Heller Hoke, 94 years old, peacefully passed away of natural causes, on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, at home in the care of family. Owen was born on Aug. 11, 1922, in Annville, Pa., the third born of four sons born to Dr. Elmer Rhodes and Mary Heller Hoke.
Owen grew up in Salisbury, N.C., on the campus of Catawba College when his father was president, and Lancaster, Pa., thereafter, raised by his mother, a teacher. Owen earned bachelor's and graduate degrees in mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College and the University of North Carolina, in 1947 and 1950, and later an MBA from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1986.
Owen served his country after being drafted in 1942. A veteran of World War II, he was a B-24 pilot and 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He further served when hired as mathematician for the government in the 1950s, testing and programming rocketry on early computers at various military testing facilities and labs. Expertise in math and computer programming led to work in the private sector in the computerization and modernization of systems of several corporations, and teaching at several colleges, until he was hired by the State of Alaska in 1980, working in Juneau, Alaska. Owen retired as a computer programmer for the Department of Revenue in 1990.
After a long marriage and raising four children, Alexander, Stephen, Thomas and Margaret "Peggy," Owen moved to Alaska and gave family life a second chance. Owen married Violeta "Betty" Villasin Hoke in 1983, and raised three children, Christopher, Maryann and Kathryn, in Anchorage, Alaska. Owen was a loving husband and father. He enjoyed the company of family and friends who in-turn enjoyed his unmistakably clever wit and dry sense of humor. He was an accomplished tennis, golf, chess and bridge player, and remained active until late in life, winning 5k races into his 70s.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and three brothers, Elmer Jr., Robert and Richard; and Owen is survived in life by his wife, Betty; seven children and daughter-in-law, Debra Holbrook; in-laws, Patrocenia, Danny, Letty, Ruperto and Leo Villasin; grandchildren, Hayden and wife Anna, Patrick and Zander, Danika and Karissa, Kelsey, Hilary and Addison; great-granddaughter, Ariana; and many nieces, nephews and their children, all of whom he proudly held dear.
A memorial to celebrate the life of Owen Heller Hoke will be held at noon on Saturday, May 27, 2017, at the Wellspring Church (Bereka), 2511 Sentry Drive, Anchorage, AK 99507, with a viewing at 10 a.m.
Arrangements entrusted to Legacy Witzleben Chapel.
Alaska Dispatch News, 21 May 2017
Owen Heller Hoke, 94 years old, peacefully passed away of natural causes, on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, at home in the care of family. Owen was born on Aug. 11, 1922, in Annville, Pa., the third born of four sons born to Dr. Elmer Rhodes and Mary Heller Hoke.
Owen grew up in Salisbury, N.C., on the campus of Catawba College when his father was president, and Lancaster, Pa., thereafter, raised by his mother, a teacher. Owen earned bachelor's and graduate degrees in mathematics from Franklin & Marshall College and the University of North Carolina, in 1947 and 1950, and later an MBA from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1986.
Owen served his country after being drafted in 1942. A veteran of World War II, he was a B-24 pilot and 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He further served when hired as mathematician for the government in the 1950s, testing and programming rocketry on early computers at various military testing facilities and labs. Expertise in math and computer programming led to work in the private sector in the computerization and modernization of systems of several corporations, and teaching at several colleges, until he was hired by the State of Alaska in 1980, working in Juneau, Alaska. Owen retired as a computer programmer for the Department of Revenue in 1990.
After a long marriage and raising four children, Alexander, Stephen, Thomas and Margaret "Peggy," Owen moved to Alaska and gave family life a second chance. Owen married Violeta "Betty" Villasin Hoke in 1983, and raised three children, Christopher, Maryann and Kathryn, in Anchorage, Alaska. Owen was a loving husband and father. He enjoyed the company of family and friends who in-turn enjoyed his unmistakably clever wit and dry sense of humor. He was an accomplished tennis, golf, chess and bridge player, and remained active until late in life, winning 5k races into his 70s.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and three brothers, Elmer Jr., Robert and Richard; and Owen is survived in life by his wife, Betty; seven children and daughter-in-law, Debra Holbrook; in-laws, Patrocenia, Danny, Letty, Ruperto and Leo Villasin; grandchildren, Hayden and wife Anna, Patrick and Zander, Danika and Karissa, Kelsey, Hilary and Addison; great-granddaughter, Ariana; and many nieces, nephews and their children, all of whom he proudly held dear.
A memorial to celebrate the life of Owen Heller Hoke will be held at noon on Saturday, May 27, 2017, at the Wellspring Church (Bereka), 2511 Sentry Drive, Anchorage, AK 99507, with a viewing at 10 a.m.
Arrangements entrusted to Legacy Witzleben Chapel.
Alaska Dispatch News, 21 May 2017