James “Jim” V. Hoover

A Celebration of Life for James “Jim” V. Hoover, 76, Eudora will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 14, 2018 at Holy Family Catholic Church in Eudora. There will be a reception to follow the service at the church. A private family inurnment will be held at a later time at Memorial Park Cemetery in Lawrence. He passed away Thursday, December 6, 2018 surrounded by his family.

Jim was born December 11, 1941 the son of Kelvin Vincent and Helen Elizabeth (Benson) Hoover. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1959. He worked at Kaw Valley State Bank for 55 years and was President of Kaw Valley State Bank for 35 years. He considered his employees and many of his customers an extension of his family and treated all of them as such.

Jim served on the city council and was the Mayor of Eudora for more than three decades, often taking calls and answering “friendly” questions at his own home at all hours of the day. He was a member of the CPA Picnic Association, and many of his friends have fond memories of him working the pop stand during the annual picnic.

He loved hot rod cars and the faster they ran the better. He passed his love for racing on to his son Jimmy, and he spent many years at the motor cross track watching Jimmy race and win. Later he would spend many more years at ball parks with his son Jason and the KVB Sidewinders softball team sharing in their many wins and treating the team like part of his family. An extremely hard worker, Jim hated being idle and was known for his willingness to help anyone and only expected a thank you in return.

He was incredibly proud of his grandchildren and had a great hand in raising them. He loved spending time with his family above all else and especially enjoyed attending his grandchildren’s many activities, making an effort to come to many concerts, games, and horse shows. He spoiled his family, especially his grandchildren, and gave generously behind the scenes in many ways that even his family will never know about. Jim had a larger than life personality and there will never be another husband, dad, grandpa, or friend like Jim.

Jim is survived by his wife of 55 years Carole, Eudora, KS. Other survivors include two sons, Jimmy (Julie) Hoover of (Louisburg), KS, Jason (Lindsey) Hoover of Eudora, KS; his sister, Dr. Eileen (Dr. Walter) Kintsch of Boulder, CO; and his most beloved grandchildren, Grace, Payton, and Colby.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Eudora Schools Foundation and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.