It is with sadness we have learned of the death of Patricia “Tish” Louise Hoover, a former faculty member of the Department of Music Education. She died on May 28, 2021, at the age of 82. May she rest in peace.
Hoover was born in Hillsboro, Kan., in 1938. After a childhood spent between Kansas and Oklahoma, Hoover graduated high school in Bartlesville, Okla., then earned her bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Kansas. After a year of graduate school at KU, she set out alone to backpack around Europe for a year. She returned to the U.S. and began her music teaching career in 1962 with the public schools in Port Washington, N.Y. It was there that she met and married Norman Hoover, a fellow teacher. The pair both earned their masters and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Oregon.
During her professional career, Hoover taught at Carrie Palmer Jr. High, the University of Minnesota, Elmhurst College, Arkansas Tech University, and DePaul University. She served as the executive director of the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra and started and conducted a university and community orchestra at ATU. While at ATU, she also developed and ran a summer arts camp for kids, Arts Encounter, which was well received and continued for many summers.
In 2001, Hoover and her husband retired to North Carolina, where she taught several courses at the Duke University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, played keyboard with the Dixie Dukes Swing Band, and was a member of the United Church of Chapel Hill.
After her husband’s death in 2012, Hoover became a founding member of Durham Central Park Cohousing Community and relished several intense years participating in the design and construction of their building, where she then lived out her years. Hoover will be remembered for her mentorship and kindness.
Hoover is survived by her son Brian and wife Julie; son Scott and wife Chutikan; daughter Kim and husband Michael; her purple velvet couch; and five grandchildren: Christopher, Logan, Patrick, Alex and Selena.
A celebration of her life was held on June 7, 2021, on what would have been her 83rd birthday.