Carl Roy Hovey's Obituary
Carl Hovey, beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, friend and teacher, passed away at the age of 86 on September 27, 2022. His life was truly a testimony of servitude and dedication to those who knew and loved him. He was the youngest of eight children growing up in Cape May Court House, New Jersey, all of whom have preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marilyn, his daughter and son-in-law, Elaine and Don Davidson, one granddaughter, Angelique Davidson and a multitude of nieces, nephews and their descendants spread across the United States.
Carl left New Jersey after graduating from Middle Township High School to pursue the study of education at Arizona State University. During this time, he met his lovely wife Marilyn who herself was a transplant from Indiana. They married while attending ASU in 1959 and they both graduated with Bachelors of Arts degrees in 1961. He considered himself blessed to have worked his way through college via his employment at the Student Union Building on the ASU campus at Tempe.
Carl and Marilyn moved to California shortly after graduation and Carl began his teaching career in Torrance. Meanwhile, he pursued and achieved his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California. In 1967, the family moved to Vista after Mr. Hovey accepted a teaching position at Potter Junior High School in Fallbrook. After one year at Potter, he accepted an administrative position in Yorba Linda and became Assistant Principal and later Principal at Yorba Linda Junior High School. He returned to teaching in Fallbrook in the spring of 1974 and the following Fall he became the Assistant Principal at Potter Junior High. He later served as principal of San Onofre School on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base before returning to the classroom for the remainder of his career at Potter, teaching primarily U.S. History but also instructing others in the skills of Typing and Speech. He also coached basketball and track and was the lunchtime advisor of the Braves for Christ who met on the campus.
He was quoted as saying “that my students had been more of a blessing to my life than I ever was in theirs”. If you ask his students, they would say otherwise. He will be remembered by his students as a “tough but fair” teacher who desired to prepare them for both college and life as a whole. Upon his retirement after 37 years in education, he devoted himself to the pursuit of becoming a fervent prayer warrior and began a prayer ministry alongside Marilyn. He was able to speak at chapels and Christian clubs on the various aspects of prayer and developed an entire curriculum he could use to instruct others in the art of praying. He also worked with the Gideons for several years. While Carl was not able to see his full vision of teaching this prayer curriculum to the larger Christian audience, he enjoyed many other pursuits during his lifetime, including designing his home, gardening, playing guitar, oil painting, spending time with his family and exercising.
He is now in the presence of his Lord. His body will be laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in a private graveside service. A public Celebration of Life will be held at Meadowbrook Village Christian Retirement Community in Escondido on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 2pm.
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