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Life after USI: catching up with Dr. H. Ray Hoops

June 4, 2019

The Bubbas

As cars dart along State Road 62, just west of the Vanderburgh-Posey County line, second shift quietly trickles into St. Phillips Truck Stop. It's 7 a.m. and, by now, some of the earliest risers have come and gone: others linger, enjoying the coffee and friendly conversation. In the attached shuttered restaurant where this shift change is happening, time is flexible-because, despite the "Employees Only" sign-no one is here to work.

The Bubbas at St. Phillips Truck StopNicknamed "The Bubbas," the baseball-capped and boot-clad men sharing stories and sections of the day's newspaper are almost all retired. "It could be as many as 15 [of us], but it's usually six or seven," one member says. The cast changes as the morning lengthens. On this Tuesday, it includes two well drillers, an engineer, a police officer, a duck call maker, a research scientist, a farmer-and a university President Emeritus.

Ten years after leaving his post at USI, Dr. H. Ray Hoops still can't kick his pre-dawn wakeup habit. "I get up at 4:30 a.m.," he says. "I've tried to [sleep later], but I haven't been able to manage it." So, instead of hitting the gym and heading to campus to tackle paperwork in the morning quiet, a few days a week he drives from the downtown condo he shares with his wife, Linda, past the University he guided for 15 years, to this modest hideaway where few subjects are off limits. "You name it, we've covered it," someone says. "Anything is discussed here, except women," another jokes. "We don't know anything about women."

It's the kind of gathering where hot button topics are handled with care. "We don't fight politics too hard, we don't fight religion too hard here. That's two good things keeping the group together," Joe, the seasoned ringleader of the The Bubbas, explains from his reserved seat-the only chair here that never changes. Anyone is welcome, though most live on the west side, as Hoops did when he first showed up. "We didn't care [about his profession], we had all kinds of people," Joe says.

Around this table, USI's second president is just a guy named Ray.

Retirement reality

Dr. H. Ray Hoops in his workshop

When he's ready for a change of scenery, Hoops, who turns 80 in December and remains in good health, makes the short trip to his home away from home, a 4,000 sq. ft. pole barn dubbed the "Garage Mahal" by his daughter's friends. "I'm trying to limit myself to six hours a day," he explains. "This concrete floor can be pretty tough on knees."

Sipping more coffee from a mug promoting the 2009 expansion of USI's Recreation, Fitness and Wellness Center-one of many facility additions during his time in office-Hoops explains how this space, which includes a workshop and furnished loft, allows him to live his childhood fantasy. Growing up in "abject poverty" in a small town near Champaign, Illinois, he never envied the things others had. What he wanted was the ability to fix them when they broke, the way the local farmers did.

With no golf game to improve or wanderlust to satisfy in retirement, he turned his decades-old desire into reality. Woodworking, in particular, came calling. Hoops has crafted hundreds of items-from candlesticks and cabinets to photo frames and serving trays. But his trademark creations, housed on the shelves of his sawdust-covered sanctuary, are children's toys. There are playful dogs and colorful puzzles, long-nosed limousines and rustic log trucks. "I like the ones that are more complex now," he says about the models he follows. "I get bored entirely too quickly." 

Log trucks built by Dr. H. Ray Hoops

The building process is peaceful, propelled by opera, classical or country music, depending on the day. "I've got this place wired for sound," says Hoops. "You'd be surprised. This metal building has great acoustics." Of course, there are frustrations, too. "I screw up an awful lot," he says, humbly downplaying his carpentry skills. "The reason that I started with the toys was that you can't make a mistake on a kid's toy. I mean, in the end, it's still a kid's toy, right?"

Though he undoubtedly could, Hoops sells nothing he makes. Instead, he supplies local charity auctions-a bidding war between a pair of grandfathers once brought in $270-and supports his wife's penchant for presents. "Nobody likes to give gifts more than she does, so her friends' grandchildren get a lot of them."

Creating space

Despite his proximity to campus, Hoops' visits to the buildings he watched rise during his time as president are limited. "I go to a couple of the [USI] Foundation's functions each year. We do have basketball tickets," he says. "I still try to assist the University in the fundraising effort, particularly with people who want to talk about estate planning." But, typically, those meetings happen at his downtown USI office.

Wooden toy dogs built by Dr. H. Ray HoopsIt's not that his affection for the University has dimmed over the years. In fact, it's perhaps because of his appreciation for the institution and deep respect for his successor that he created space in the first place. "When Linda Bennett followed me [as USI's third president], since she had worked for me, there's a shadow effect there," Hoops says. "You can't escape it, and I deliberately stayed away from campus for that first year [after retirement]…. I felt that I owed her that. And when you don't do that for a year, you kind of get out of the habit of going."

So, does he miss it? "I miss doing the business of the University," he says. "I don't miss the ceremonial parts of it."

Turns out, this slower-paced phase of life isn't so bad. "I thought I'd be a terrible retiree…. I expected to be a caged lion, and I've been just fine. I enjoy it," he says. "I'm glad I didn't retire any younger, but I'm also glad I didn't wait any longer." Because, after all, there are toys to be made, newspapers to be read and stories to be told.

The Bubbas are waiting.

Did you know? 

See a slideshow of photos from Dr. Hoops' time as USI's second president, from 1994 until 2009

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