Penn Hills Community Champion has helped thousands
Ed Hoover doesn't quite know how many hours a week he spends volunteering with the Penn Hills Service Association.
But his typical workday probably rivals the time he spent on the job before retiring as principal of Penn Hills Senior High School in 1991.
"I was 62 when I retired, and I was determined that I wasn't going to just sit around all day in front of the TV," said Hoover. "I really enjoy going out every day to do something to help others. It keeps me going."
Hoover, 77, has been selected to receive the 2007 Community Champion Award from the Penn Hills branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. The award recognizes people who have made a significant and positive impact in the Penn Hills community.
Hoover will be honored at a May 3 dinner at Hebron United Presbyterian Church, 10460 Frankstown Road.
"Mr. Hoover's untiring devotion and unselfish concern for others epitomizes the idea of what it is to be a community champion," said Gary Nowading, executive director of the Penn Hills YMCA.
"He touched the lives of thousands of students as a social studies teacher, guidance counselor and principal of Penn Hills Senior High School," Nowading said. "He followed his career as an educator by becoming a devoted volunteer. He has had a tremendously positive impact on our community."
Hoover helps the service association's 80 volunteers provide food, clothing and convalescent aids, such as walkers and other medical devices, to nearly 5,000 residents a year. During the Christmas season, holiday food baskets and gifts are provided to needy families.
Hoover's hands-on approach to the job -- he's just as likely to be found delivering meals, stocking shelves and sorting clothing as he is soliciting donations or keeping the books -- is an extension of the work ethic he developed as an educator, said Jane Hoover, his wife of 54 years.
He's down at the (association) building all the time," she said. "And he has a table downstairs in our house where he spends hours doing paperwork for the organization. It's really not much different than when he was a principal."
Hoover often brought work home from school so he would not fall behind, his wife said.
"He wasn't one to sit in his office all day," she said. "He liked to be out walking the halls, mixing with the students."
The Hoovers are natives of Altoona. Ed Hoover is a 1952 graduate of Penn State University, where he played football as an undergraduate for renowned Nittany Lions coach Charles "Rip" Engle.
He earned his teaching certification from Shippensburg State College, and has a master's degree in education from Duquesne University. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army.
