Antonia (Barinaga) Hooft, passed away peacefully on August 25, 2015 at Morningstar Senior Living in Sparks, Nevada, one day before her 94th birthday. She was born August 26, 1921 to Pablo and Estebana Barinaga in Golconda Nevada.
Tony and her three sisters often spoke fondly of their childhood in Golconda, where their father was a sheepherder. When asked what her most memorable moment was, she once said it was seeing her dad come down from the mountains after being away for a long time. In her excitement she would run to meet him and he would lift her onto his horse for the ride home.
After high school, Tony moved to Winnemucca, where she happily lived for the rest of her life. As a young lady she worked for the telephone company as an operator and later for the Draft Board, who notified the men that would be drafted into World War II.
In 1943, at the age of 21, Tony married Adolpho Achabal, and had a son, James Achabal. They were later divorced. In 1952 she married J. William “Willie” Hooft and had two sons, Raymond and Robert Hooft. Willie and Tony owned and operated Hooft’s Bakery in Winnemucca for close to fifty years until their retirement. Willie was the baker and she was the bookkeeper, and official tester of bakery goods that were left on the kitchen counter by Willie each morning.
Tony always stressed the importance of a good education to her kids. She loved to follow her three boys and grandkids in all of their sports and other school activities. It seemed she was always in the kitchen to make sure her boys had a hot meal before and after a ballgame. She was an avid sports fan and had ESPN on television right up until the end of her life. Her favorite to watch on TV was football, with her favorite team being the Boise State Broncos. Tony was known to yell at a referee now and then, back in the day when it was fashionable. Even into her 90’s she loved to attend the Reed Raider and Lowry Buckaroo basketball games that were nearby.
Perhaps her greatest passion was working in her big yard, where she could always be seen outside planting flowers or watering her plants. She also enjoyed meeting with her friends in the Jaycee-ettes club to discuss anything and everything.
Tony is preceded in death by her husband J. William Hooft, father and mother, Pablo and Estebana Barinaga, her infant brother Paul Barinaga and sisters, Emily (Barinaga) Laucirica, Kathleen (Barinaga) Aranguena and Josephine (Barinaga) Dendary. She is survived by her sons, James Achabal of Hagerman Idaho, Raymond Hooft (Jennifer) of Boise, Idaho, Robert Hooft (Marie) of Sparks, Nevada, sister-in-law Dorothy (Hooft) Leonelli of Tooele, Utah, and numerous nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Services will be held Saturday, September 5th at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Winnemucca, with a rosary starting at 9:00 a.m. followed by a funeral mass at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Tony’s name to the Lowry High School Athletic Department.
The family would like to thank Dr. Phyllis Boyd of Sparks, as well as the staff and caregivers at Morningstar Senior Living of Sparks for the care and love they showed Tony over the past five years.
