They were two of my favorite people in Fayetteville. I’ve been in shock since I heard the news this morning…
The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Fayetteville Family Killed In Crash Outside Of Cancun, Mexico
By Christopher Spencer
THE MORNING NEWSFAYETTEVILLE — Friends mourned the death of four family members from Fayetteville killed Tuesday in a car accident about an hour south of Cancun, Mexico.
Paul Hoover and his wife, Maureen, were in a rental car with Paul’s father and stepmother, Steve and Sharon Hoover, when another car crossed the highway median and struck the car they were in, several family friends said. The Hoovers died at the scene.
The Mexican man who caused the crash was arrested by Mexican police for driving recklessly at high speed, said Judith Bryan, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The Mexican newspaper Novedades de Quintana Roo identified the driver of the other car as Mario Diaz Polo.
The accident occurred on a highway between Playa del Carmen and Tulum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Bryan said. Much of that highway consists of two lanes with a divided grassy space in the middle.
The Hoover family was very involved in Northwest Arkansas, especially Fayetteville.
Sharon Hoover worked for Allison Architects of Fayetteville. She was project architect and environmental designer for the University of Arkansas Innovation Center, one of the buildings at the Research and Technology Park in south Fayetteville.
Mayor Dan Coody said he and his wife have been friends with the Hoovers for more than three decades.
“Deborah found them their house,” Dan Coody said. “She told them they needed to move to Fayetteville.”
Fayetteville’s growth and downtown development were projects for Sharon Hoover after the family arrived in Northwest Arkansas 10 years ago, Dan Coody said. Sharon Hoover served on the Fayetteville Planning Commission from 1998 until 2004, said Fayetteville City Clerk Sondra Smith.
Daniel Hintz, executive director of Fayetteville Downtown Partners, said Sharon Hoover was also instrumental to the downtown development agency. Sharon Hoover was the board’s first president after its reformation from the Downtown Dickson Enhancement Project.
“She had the vision and the leadership to transition the organization,” Hintz said. “She was a friend and mentor to me and the organization.”
Steve Hoover was a well-known artist in Fayetteville whose sculptures are in numerous homes, Coody said.
Coody said Steve Hoover and he trace their friendship to Huntsville, Texas.
“I don’t have an older friend than Steve,” Coody said.
A quiet man, Coody said Steve Hoover poured himself into his work at his Dead Horse Mountain Studio.
“He really enjoyed it,” Coody said.
Like his wife, Steve Hoover got involved in Fayetteville.
“They both just jumped in with both feet when they hit the ground,” Coody said.
Maureen Hoover and her husband were in their early 30s. Maureen Hoover worked for the University of Arkansas, where she directed the Upward Bound program. It is one of eight pre-college programs the university offers to help young children prepare for college when they are of age.
“She was all things to all people,” said Joe Seabrooks, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. “She was a phenomenal professional and just a great person.”
As a first-generation college student, Maureen Hoover worked hard to help other children get into college.
Maureen Hoover’s best friend, Sarah Terry of Fayetteville, said the loss of her friend is tragic for the community.
“She definitely made an impact in the community. She was passionate about her job. She loved working with students. She got to see them go to college and took so much pride in them,” Terry said.
Terry said the Hoovers were on their third vacation to the Yucatan Peninsula. She accompanied the Hoovers to the area two years ago. She spent most of Wednesday with Maureen’s mother, Michelle Rainey, of Fayetteville.
Maureen Hoover was a neighborhood coordinator for Fayetteville before working at the university. Coody, who hired Maureen, said her writing and public relations skills were put to good use.
Paul Hoover joined the Fort Smith Fire Department in 2001 as a firefighter, said department spokesman Sgt. Jarrard Copeland. Hoover’s death is a loss for the department, said Copeland. Paul and his wife, Maureen, were invited to Copeland’s upcoming wedding reception.
“My wife told me today during lunch that they had died. It was shocking,” Copeland said.
– The Morning News’ Dug Begley contributed to this report..
16/08/2007 at 10:30 am Permalink
So sorry to hear this news……
16/08/2007 at 12:02 pm Permalink
Pefect foto. It captures them well. I love that Sharon is holding an ice cup - since I just learned of her ice obsession.
17/08/2007 at 8:35 am Permalink
I had know Steve and Paul since college days. Steve and I studied art at SHSU, Texas. He and Paul used to come to the house when we all lived in Houston. Got to know Sharon when she and Steve got together. They were so good for each other. My heart is broken, as is yours. But I will enjoy my friendship with Steve forever through his wonderful sculpture of in my home.
Alice Valverde Tutt, Houston
17/08/2007 at 12:26 pm Permalink
I loved Sharon’s refusal to accept anything at face value. The architecture community has lost a tremendous talent.
19/08/2007 at 8:18 am Permalink
Sharon and I had great fun designing our home in Houston. I had not spoken to Sharon in a couple of years when I called her week befoe last to get her design advice on an iron driveway gate.
I told her people still stopped at the curb nearly every Sunday to admire her design and I didn’t want them to think the gate was her work if what I designed looked really hoky. We both laughed because I had a list of things I wanted in the house when we began the design process about 12 years ago. She would through out the bad ideas and I would move them to the bottom of the list and try them on her at a later time; I never once over ruled her judgment.
I didn’t know she and the family were going on vacation, so when I hadn’t heard from her, I emailed her last Wednesday to tell her that I knew she was busy and that I had to go forward with the gate because the artist/welder was going to move on to another project if I didn’t choose a design; so I would just have to go with my design and hope she approved of it. She said she would stop by this Fall when she came to Houston to visit her cousin.
I plan to place a small plaque on the gate in her memory ; it will read “Sharon’s Gate”. She was a wonderfully talented person with a great laugh and a soft heart.
17/09/2007 at 9:42 pm Permalink
Vivienne and I are deeply saddened of this news. We have lost two dear friends. Sharon designed two homes for us, the last in Colorado. Earlier this year we asked Sharon and Steve to visit us in Colorado. We are so very proud of her unique design. There is nothing else like it on the mountain. She has left her mark in South Fork Colorado. She and Steve always treated Viv and I like family. The new of this terrible accident came to us through friends of ours in South Fork who had never met the Hoovers but had listened to Viv and I talk endlessly about our friend and Architect. Steve and Sharon were good people and will truly be missed.