![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18003002299335.jpg.jpg\")
He returned to Casper, married and bought a home for $9,999 in Pineview, the town\u2019s first subdivision. Hoke worked as a welder for Texaco for 35 years before retiring in 1981. Since then, he\u2019s visited Germany and traveled through the U.S. \u2014 he\u2019s been everywhere in the south from Florida to San Diego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He started volunteering for Meals on Wheels about two decades ago. He\u2019s younger than most of the recipients. Everyone will need some help sooner or later, he said. The meals aren\u2019t just for the elderly, but also for those with injuries or illnesses, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t hurt you a bit I guess to do it in advance when you\u2019re able to do it,\u201d Hoke said. \u201cSo you get a kind of a reprieve from it when somebody helps you. Nobody is exempt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TIME WITH FRIENDS<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hoke\u2019s last stop of the day was to a man he\u2019s known for decades. They smiled and talked at the doorway of a blue house. Hoke asked about the man\u2019s brother, who lives in a nursing home, and was pleased he was doing all right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, he\u2019s one of my favorites,\u201d he said before leaving the house. \u201cYou\u2019re one of my favorites, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back at the Meals on Wheels center, Hoke talked with several friends over lunch that\u2019s served to the volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drivers like Hoke are crucial to deliver meals to those who need them throughout the community, Cardinal said. She enjoys watching him come in every day and visit with the staff and other volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe befriends them, talks to them and tells his stories to them. He loves to tell stories,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They enjoy his stories, too. Fellow volunteer and veteran Hubert Townsend said he asks Hoke about history, whether from his time in World War II or Casper\u2019s past, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The friendships extend beyond Meals on Wheels. Hoke travels to Las Vegas every March to watch basketball with two friends he made volunteering, for instance. The three discovered they were all traveling there alone, as well as to University of Wyoming football and basketball games. Now they go together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the friends you meet,\u201d Hoke said, \u201cthe people you correspond with right at Meals on Wheels.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
‘Why sit home and look at four walls?’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":78051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5143],"class_list":["post-42704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"NG66HUMTZFAZBLBQISM76GJMQA","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/01\/04\/world-war-ii-vet-92-has-delivered-meals-to-needy-for-20-years\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n