'He's A Real Special Person': 91-Year-Old Muskogee Man Opens Bait And Tackle Shop

A 91-year-old Muskogee man is proving you're never too old to live your dream.

Harold Hooper is now the proud owner of Hooper’s Bait and Tackle Shop in Muskogee. Hooper is known as a man who never sits still, but when he wanted to buy an old bait and tackle shop to keep it open, his family members thought he was crazy.

When the previous owner couldn't keep the shop anymore, Hooper decided to step in and run the place.

"This place has been here for 38 years, and this old man, I've known him all my life,” said Hooper. “And he started this sucker 30-something years ago, and he's kept it up until his health got bad. And I bought him out and took it over."

With the help of some family members, the Bait Barn has been transformed into Hooper's Bait and Tackle. Jessica Fowler, his granddaughter, says it's been a good thing for him.

"He's active anyways,” said Fowler. “He's always fishing or hunting, or he's at one of the local Boomerangs eating. He does stuff with the church, or he and Charlie are off doing something together. He's never ever been just home."

She says Hooper, who everybody in town knows as "Grandpa," has always been there for anyone who needed it.

So this is her family's chance to be there for him.

"It's hard not to find somebody that doesn't know who he is, or who hasn't done something for him, or who hasn't worked with him, or who hasn't worked for him,” said Fowler. “He's always done a lot."

Even though Hooper is passionate about all things fishing, it isn't the reason why he bought the shop. He wants to help his great-grandchildren go to college, debt free.

"I wanted to make sure she had a way to school and didn't have debt hanging over her half her life,” said Hooper. “My granddaughter, it took her about 12 years to pay for her student debt. And I didn't want that for my great-granddaughter."

Jessica says she's so thankful to have a grandpa like Harold.

"It's really neat, and he's a real special person,” said Fowler.

For more information on Hooper’s Bait and Tackle shop, visit their Facebook page.