adminMr Hove died at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo on Monday.
His daughter, Ms Sukoluhle Hove said her father died after succumbing to a heart and kidney problem.
“His health had been deteriorating for some time due to a heart and kidney problem and he died at Mater Dei Hospital on Monday,” said Ms Hove.
She described her father as a great man and a pillar of strength in the family, whose death left a gap which she said would be difficult to fill.
“His death is a great loss to the family as he was a pillar of strength, an intelligent and rational man who loved peace. He loved his children and was a forthright person who was proud of being African,” said Ms Hove.
His first born who is also co-Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration Senator Sekai Holland, said her father was proud of being African, dedicated to maintaining the country’s traditions and culture.
Mr Hove was born on September 15 in 1914 in Mberengwa and attended Masase School from 1931 to 1934.
He then went to Morgenster Mission in Masvingo then Fort Victoria in 1935.
From 1936 to 1938 he trained as a teacher at Umphumulo Institution in Natal, South Africa.
Upon his return to the country, he taught at Masase between 1939 and 1941. Together with his late wife, Maroma Baphelile Nkomo they moved to Waddilove Institute in
Marondera where they worked until 1945.
Later that year, Mr Hove was appointed Editor of the Bantu Mirror, the first African Weekly newspaper in the country. His exposure to the print media kindled an interest in socio-political affairs and his move into politics became inevitable.
Mr Hove then became the Federal Member of Parliament for Matabeleland after he won the December 1953 elections and served until 1962.
He was later appointed the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria in the 1960s.
However, he resigned from his job in 1963 after the then Federal Government Prime Minister Sir Roy Welensky pledged his support for the Rhodesia Front, which was against black majority rule.
Besides politics Mr Hove was actively involved in community service since his move to Bulawayo from Harare in 1949.
He served on the Luveve Advisory Board until it was outlawed in the 1950s and also served the Inter-Racial Society, the Rhodesian Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, the Pensioners Aid Society, the Blood Transfusion Service, the Jairos Jiri Association and was until 1990, chairman of the Mpilo Hospital Advisory Committee.
Mr Hove is survived by six children, 15 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Mourners are gathered at his home in sub-division 2 of Plot 9, Woodville in Bulawayo.
A church service would be held at his home and he will be buried today at West Park Cemetery, where his wife was laid to rest in 2006.
Online Reporter