RISON - Long-time Woodlawn School Board member David Stover is being remembered for his faith and his service to the community and the school following his passing this past Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Stover, 73, had served on the Woodlawn School Board for more than 30 years. After graduating from Woodlawn in 1970, Stover earned a degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, where he played one year of basketball and four years of baseball for the Boll Weevils. He became a pharmacists and went to work for Drug Mart in Pine Bluff in 1983, eventually buying the business in 1994 and renaming it The Drug Room.
Woodlawn High School athletic director and baseball coach Tommy Richardson said Stover did a lot for the school and community often unseen, which is the way he wanted it. "In the 34 years I've been here, he has helped me in about every way possible," he said.
"He was always there, always willing to help," Richardson added. "That's not as common as it used to be." Richardson said Stover was always willing to "to get his hands dirty" to put in the physical labor to get things done. He said Stover's ultimate goal was to always make things better for the kids.
And his support also extended into the grandstands, where he could always be found. Richardson recalled one former Woodlawn player telling him at Stover’s funeral that “Mr. Stover” was always in the stands, even when he didn’t have a kid out on the field.
“He was just a good human,” Richardson said. “He was a Godly man.”
Richardson also credits Stover with helping open the door for Woodlawn baseball players to play American Legion baseball in Pine Bluff. In those days, Pine Bluff was one of the premiere programs in the state and playing for one of the Legion teams gave Woodlawn players some exposure to college coaches.
He said David Stover, his brother Jimmy Stove and Mike Stewart, all Woodlawn players, had great success when they had a chance to play for the Pine Bluff teams. That success continued until Richard…