McLarty family makes memorial donation

By Ken McLemore/Hope Public Schools, 05/24/21 6:00 PM

HOPE – Dr. Bobby Hart, superintendent of Hope Public Schools, is pleased to announce that

the McLarty family of Hope and Little Rock, led by brothers Mack and Bud McLarty, is creating a

Hope High School scholarship fund in memory of their dear and lifelong friend and HHS

alumnus Steve Marlar. The scholarship will award $1,000 annually to a Hope High School

Bobcat who has excelled academically and athletically.

“I can’t think of a more appropriate recipient than Hope High School, given that Steve was a

1956 graduate and star Bobcat football player,” Mack McLarty said in a letter to the HPS on

behalf of his family. “It makes us very proud to honor both Steve and our alma mater in this

way.”

Mack McLarty recognized the close relationship between Marlar and his family as extending to

his own boyhood in Hope. “I first met Steve when I was 11 years-old when he became my Little

League coach for Midwest Dairy,” he said. “We had a great team, or at least that’s how I like to

remember it. Our friendship grew over the next six decades and both deepened and never

wavered.”

Added Bud McLarty, “The man I thought of as “Uncle Steve” was 20 years older than me, and

someone I looked up to as a role model. His love of sports came through in the values he

embodied as a person: working hard, being there for others, and simply having fun. Steve was a

valued, loyal, and caring friend to our parents Helen and Frank as well. He gave so much back

to our community and its citizens as well as visitors to our fair city. He was special in many

ways.”

Marlar lettered in football for the Bobcats three years and went on to play as a fullback and star

placekicker for the championship-winning Texarkana College Bulldogs prior to employment with

the McLarty-owned Hope Auto Co. (celebrating its centennial this year), as well as Arkla Gas.

He was an avid follower of the former Southwest Conference football program, as well as a

collector of sports photography of Hempstead County schools. Marlar was a photo collaborator

with local historian and HHS journalism teacher Mary Nell Turner in producing historical

calendars for the former First National Bank of Hope, and he was considered a local history

expert.

Marlar passed away Jan. 24, 2021, and graveside services were conducted on Jan. 31, 2021, in

Blevins, under the direction of Herndon-Fuqua Funeral Home in Hope.

The McLarty family has called Hempstead County home for five generations.

Hope Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bobby Hart announces the creation of the Steve Marlar Memorial Scholarship by the McLarty family of Hope and Little Rock during the Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting here Monday night. — Ken McLemore/Hope Public Scho

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McLarty family makes memorial donation