Nov. 30, 2021

Daughter Maya Hoover Capers provided these mementos from Superior Court Judge Donnie Hoover’s Nov. 30 retirement ceremony.

The following is a video of the hour-long ceremony, which was held with a small in-person audience at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, supplemented by a livestream recorded and archived on YouTube.

A 10-minute collection of video tributes is here.

Photos from the ceremony are here.

Just days after North Carolina imposed the original COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Josephine Hoover, 70, was in the hospital with the virus and Judge Hoover, also 70, had tested positive. Both recuperated.

Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Hoover to the Superior Court bench in 2018.

One of the more candid recitations from a candidate for office explaining why he thought he warranted voters’ consideration was offered at the Forum on Oct. 16, 2012, when then District Judge Hoover was running for re-election. In the nine years since the video was posted, it has been watched more than 300 times. In Forum annals, that counts as viral.