Mary Alliene Hoover

Following is an obituary my mother, Mary Alliene Hoover, wrote for herself when she knew she was dying.

I came into this world on September 8, 1922, on an Oklahoma farm to respectable, hard-working parents.  This was a time between WWI and the Great Depression.

I remember walking a mile and a half to a country school every day where we had two teachers in the rural school.  Winters were very hard and I recall my father taking a team of horses and a wagon up to the county road to pull out a car stuck in the ditch. The car belonged to our two teachers on their way home, after they finished their days at work. The teachers were very cold, with their feet almost frozen. My mother got some warm water in a big dish pan to put their feet in to slowly warm them while my father pulled their car back.

This was a period in Oklahoma when it was very dangerous to live. Pretty Boy Floyd and the John Dillinger Gang was on the loose, robbing banks and frequently people. It was not safe to be on the road, and if anyone thought you had any money, you could be hit over the head or shot and left. My father was not a violent man and would not carry a gun but did keep a two-foot piece of log chain handy to protect himself and his family.

I was born and grew up before the country had Social Security or any welfare programs. Our farm was about a mile from the railroad. We had very little money, but did have plenty to eat. There was no work for anyone, and many people were hungry. We were always feeding someone who less fortunate than us.  Almost daily, someone would jump from the train, come down to our house, and ask if we could give them anything to eat and a place to stay. My mother and father would feed them.  Dad would let them sleep in the hayloft in the barn and they almost always would offer to split wood or do some other chore for the food and a warm place to stay.  Most of them were good people, just down and out, and out of work. 

Before long, President Roosevelt brought in the New Deal.  He introduced programs to put people to work.  Among them were the Work’s Project Administration and the Civil Conservation Corps.

By this time, I was riding the bus to high school.  On Saturday’s I worked at the local variety store for 12 ½ cents per hour.  I graduated from Stroud High School in May of 1940.  In September I married my school sweetheart.  Times were better but still not good.

My husband, John was able to find work with an oil well company. We had a child, and shortly after, John was drafted to serve in WWII, in the Pacific Theatre.  After he came home from the war, he again went to work in the oil fields. This work gave him the experience and the knowledge to become an accomplished welder. He spent the later years of his life at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho.

We lived in Blackfoot, Idaho and raised our children there, two boys and one girl.  These were good years. We prospered and enjoyed our family.  At the same time, we started to build our retirement home on the north fork of the Salmon River.

I first joined the order if the Eastern Star #14 in Blackfoot, Idaho. There I was Worthy Matron of Esther Chapter #14 in 1965-66. I later transferred to Hugh Duncan Chapter #2, in Salmon, Idaho, where I served as Worthy Matron there in 1993-1994. I served as Grand Representative of Oklahoma, in Idaho in 1992-1993, and was Grand Warden in 1995-1996.  The Order of the Eastern Star has been an important part of my life.

 I am survived by my son, Richard Hoover of Hamilton, Jim (Shirley) Hoover of  Blackfoot, Idaho, and Mary Ann Lyons, of Bali, Indonesia; several grandchildren; one great grandchild; along with a lifetime of very special friends that are like family.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, March 24, 2023, at Daly-Leach Chapel. Condolences my be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com

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