Bernell Hooker, a 1978 graduate of Milwaukee Custer High School, died August 30 from ovarian cancer.

If Milwaukee native Bernell Hooker had more time, she would have been the one to bring Wisconsin its first WNBA team. Hooker started the Milwaukee Aces professional women’s team, played and coached locally, and ran multiple basketball camps for girls in the area.

As a player, coach, administrator and women’s basketball advocate, Hooker provided a legacy for others to follow. Hooker played basketball competitively at Milwaukee’s Custer High School. She coached collegiately for 25 years including at Milwaukee Area Technical College and Mount Mary University. She was the senior women’s sports administrator at Mount Mary University until she retired in 2006.

Hooker’s nonprofit Images of Us, which she started in 2002, provided educational and athletic experiences for women and girls.

On July 17, 2021 she married Rita Adair in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by friends and family in Fitchburg.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Hooker for expenses of her final affairs and memorial costs atgofundme.com/f/honoring-bernell.