HIGH POINT — Father Conrad Charles Hoover, known for his gentle counsel, eclectic life and devotion to people, died Jan. 7, 2022, at Pennybyrn at Maryfield. He was 85.
A funeral Mass will be offered by Bishop Peter J. Jugis at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte. The Mass will be livestreamed by the parish: https://boxcast.tv/view/funeral-mass-of-father-conrad-hoover-wgp7eh4s70tztjdv8l0o
He was born Aug. 7, 1936, in Takoma Park, Md., the son of Hiram Charles Hoover, a district manager for Social Security, and Dorothy Culbreth Hoover. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1958, and a master’s degree in ministry from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He later earned a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America.
A Presbyterian minister who also considered becoming a monk, led silent retreats and ran a bookstore at an ecumenical church, Father Hoover converted to Catholicism and was ordained to the priesthood on May 6, 1989, by Bishop William McManus at The Oratory in Rock Hill, S.C.
In the early 1990s, Father Hoover ministered to people with HIV and AIDS, and served as a hospital chaplain and airport chaplain. In his early years, he wrote for Sojourners Magazine, a national publication devoted to racial, social and environmental justice. Known for his love of reading and music, friends say Hoover’s rich tenor voice had perfect pitch. He once remarked, “I always have music in my head.”
“He was a brilliant spiritual director, providing wisdom and spiritual counsel,” said Cindy Wear, a friend of 42 years who was with him when he died. “He was kind and accepting. People could be vulnerable with him without fearing they would be judged. My whole family, even my kids, would go to him for counsel.”
Wear and husband David met Father Hoover in 1980 when he was a member of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., where he ran the Potter’s House bookstore and served as spiritual director of silent retreats.
“A silent retreat is a challenging contemplative experience where most of your time is spent in rest, silence and prayer – like Father Hoover, it is contemplative,” Wear said. “You were silent except for preordained times, such as meals, or for spiritual counsel with Father Hoover. He would listen, and he would help you find healing.”
His apartment back then looked like a library, she said, lined with rows of bookcases you could browse. Father Hoover left an extensive collection of books, with
Trappist monk and theologian Thomas Merton among his favorite authors.
After his ordination, Father Hoover served as campus minister at The Oratory for two years, then served on the faculty of Belmont Abbey College before becoming a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, then ministering to people living with AIDS as the epidemic took off in the South.
Brother Joe Guyon, who lived with Father Hoover at The Oratory, said: “What sticks out with me was his kindness. He was opened to everybody – rich, poor, black or white. It made no difference.”
In 1996, Father Hoover was assigned as pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, where he served for four years before being assigned to serve as pastor at St. Ann Church in Charlotte in 2000.
With him, Father Hoover carted a photo of himself performing a pet blessing in Boone, and he was frequently accompanied by Nikita, his black lab mix.
Charlotte parishioner Clay Presley remembers Father Hoover’s homilies “presented with deep understanding and wonderful wit” at St. Ann’s in the mid-2000s. He also recalls the particularly steep price of taking Father Hoover to lunch on one occasion.
“I went to lunch with every intention of paying the bill, and I came out with sticker shock: Somehow he had sweet talked me into leading the church’s $2.2 million fundraising campaign to finish work at St. Ann’s that had begun 50 years earlier,” Presley said.
Presley’s daughter, Leann McDevitt, and her fiancé went through pre-marriage counseling with Father Hoover, and says: “I guess it worked. We’re still married and now have three beautiful daughters. Father Hoover was a blessing in our lives.”
Father Hoover also served as the diocese’s director of ecumenism and was chaplain to the Knights of Columbus Council 770 in Charlotte. He retired from active ministry in 2006.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister JoAnn C. Hunsicker; brother Richard W. Hoover Sr.; and nephews Howard B. Hunsicker Jr. and Richard W. Hoover Jr.
He is survived by nephews Gerald H. Hunsicker of Houston, Texas, David R. Hunsicker (Louise) of Collegeville, Pa., and Jeffrey S. Hoover of Broussard, La.; niece Phyllis Hoover Theriot; six great-nieces and -nephews; and seven great-great-nieces and -nephews.
Memorial donations can be made to the L’Arche of Greater Washington, D.C., P.O. Box 21471, Washington, D.C. 20009, or online at www.larche-gwdc.org/donate.
Tribute & Tallent Funerals and Cremations of Charlotte is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald