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Speakers: Spread Hoover’s values to youth
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · October 27, 2016
“Share Herbert Hoover’s values with these children,” a speaker told the crowd gathered last week for the 52nd recognition of the passing of the 31st president.
Patrick Van Nevel, Honorary Consul of Belgium, summed up comments made by each of the speakers at the Oct. 20 gravesite ceremony.
The crowd included third- and fourth-grade pupils from Hoover Elementary and speakers often referenced them with comments and gestures in the 45-minute memorial.
Van Nevel said that during the Pledge of Allegiance, “I distinctly heard those children’s voices,” and appreciated their sincere tone.
Reading through a list of some of his favorite Hoover quotes — quotes he said still resonate today — he asked “Who alone can withstand the guns of criticism?” and, using another Hoover quote, encouraged children to sharpen their minds.
“Engineering training deals with the exact sciences,” Van Nevel read. “That sort of exactness makes for truth and conscience. It might be good for the world if more men had that sort of mental start in life, even if they did not pursue the profession.”
Hoover National Historic Site Superintendent Pete Swisher gestured to the children and said he imagined Hoover running around his neighborhood, having fun and climbing trees — and how he would go on, as an adult, to “explore the world.”
“He did so much before he became president,” Swisher said, gesturing across the park to Hoover’s childhood home. “And it all started in that cottage.”
Iowa National Guard Brig. Gen. Randy Warm read a letter from President Obama which summarized the events following Hoover’s Oct. 20, 1964, death and the estimated 75,000 who visited West Branch for his burial.
When Warm read the section about Obama’s “profound personal appreciation” for Hoover’s “purpose-driven life,” Warm paused and looked around the crowd.
“Remember that,” he added.
Hoover Library-Museum Director Thomas Schwartz called West Branch “unique” as only 42 other cities and towns in the United States can call themselves birthplaces of presidents.
“This is a nurturing place,” he said. Hoover “had a sense of service. He recognized unmet needs. He never grew bored … his gaze always went deeper.”
Schwartz said “we all have dreams and aspirations,” referring to a boy’s letter to Hoover about traveling to Mars and Saturn, and how Hoover suggested finding a goal on earth.
“But we’d be remiss not to use our time and talents,” Schwartz said.
Hoover’s great-grandson, Allan Hoover III, said the family appreciates the “inspiring story” of its ascendant.
“Perseverance got him through,” he said, from being orphaned to a life of public service. “He fed more people in the world than anybody in history.”
In closing, Warm, Van Nevel and Hoover III each laid wreaths — on behalf of the White House, Belgium and the Hoover family — by the gravestones of Hoover and wife Lou Henry Hoover.
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