Born on March 20, 1929, in a dogtrot house in Timbo, Herbert Hoover Gilbert was the youngest of eight children born to Eual Oscar and Ollie Eva Woody Gilbert. Hoover was called to his heavenly home on April 25, 2023, at the age of 94. His wife of 72 years, Olene Saville Gilbert was by his side.
He is survived by his wife, Olene, along with their daughter Susan Kemp (John Dan) of Little Rock, granddaughters Erin Brogdon (Jay) of North Little Rock and Lauren ”Laurs” Kemp (James Bushey) of Portland, OR. His precious great-grandsons are Hoover, Hutson and Hawkins Brogdon of North Little Rock. He is also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Hoover is preceded in death by his parents and his siblings Lucy McGhee, Ramey Gilbert, Lola Avey, Lawton Gilbert , Willis Gilbert , Coley Gilbert, and Walton Gilbert.
Hoover graduated from Big Flat High School in 1947. He played on the basketball team there and it became a big part of his life. In 1949, a beautiful young school teacher, Olene Saville came to Timbo, where he lived. They were married on July 28, 1950. Hoover graduated from Arkansas State Teachers College in 1958 with a degree in Physical Education.
Hoover’s first basketball coaching job was at the newly built Sylvan Hills High School, in North Little Rock. His team always had a winning record the nine years he coached there.
Hoover and his family moved to Stone County in 1967. He was an assistant coach at Timbo from 1969 to 1975. Hoover coached the junior and senior girls, as well as, the junior and senior boys teams at Rural Special High School in Fox from 1976 to 1979. None of the Rural Special teams ever lost a home game while he was there.
Hoover and Olene retired in 1980 to their farm in Fox, where they enjoyed raising cattle, fishing and taking care of their granddaughters, while their daughter taught school at Rural Special. When their granddaughters were in Mountain View Elementary School, Hoover was their peewee basketball coach. Hoover and Olene eventually moved to Mountain View to be closer to their granddaughters and attend their basketball games, cheerleading and other school activities.
Mountain View, Arkansas, the Folk Music Capital of the World was a perfect home for Hoover, who was always known as ”Coach”. He loved to listen to music on the courthouse square, Pickin’ Park and other music venues in town. He didn’t know a stranger. Hoover met visitors from all over the US and several foreign countries and he welcomed them into his home. He loved to meet new people and tell stories about the ”good old days” with a lot of love and humor.
A Celebration of Life for Coach Hoover Gilbert will be Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at the Mountain View First Baptist Church. Visitation will be at 10:00 a.m., followed by the program at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial donation to the Rural Special Gym Renovation Project (Renee Carr, P.O. Box 145, Fox, AR 72051) or the Committee of 100 Music Roots Program (Committee of One Hundred, P.O. Box 2111, Mountain View, AR 72560).
