Eva May Whitehead was a math teacher for years at her alma mater, Sandpoint High. 

I knew her as the lady who kept the scorebook at Bulldog girls basketball games — and volleyball matches, if I remember correctly.

This was back in the 1980s, when they played in the old Bulldog Gym. 

I had heard of her generosity toward her school and the students — doing stuff behind the scenes for the teams that few outside the circle knew about. 

time at the Daily Bee in Sandpoint, we ran a Monday feature on the front page called “Familiar Faces” — a spotlight on faces folks might recognize, but not know the story behind them.  

I thought she’d be a perfect “Familiar Face.” 

I already had the questions, and was eager to tell her story when I approached her one night at a game and asked if I could interview her for a story. 

“No thanks,” Eva May replied. 

Um ... er ... well ... but ... 

“No thanks,” Eva May repeated. 

, it all made sense. 

Eva May Whitehead didn’t want credit for doing all those generous things behind the scenes — like paying for meals for Sandpoint teams while they were at state (oops, didn’t mean to let that one slip out). 

Marianne Love, the gifted writer and retired teacher who has been blogging in the Sandpoint area for decades, remembered Eva May Whitehead, her former colleague at SHS who passed away at age 93 in March, the other day. 

(This being a sports column, this is where I sneak in the reference that Marianne is the mother of Sandpoint High girls/now boys basketball coach Will Love). 

Anyway, Marianne noted in a recent blog that the flags honoring the veterans were all there on Saturday, when she visited the Pack River Cemetery. 

She was pretty sure that in previous years, it was Eva May Whitehead, likely with help from family, who set out those flags. 

This year, she figured it was the family who carried on the tradition, a tribute to the veterans — and to Eva. 

“But for me and probably the rest of the neighborhood who knew Eva,” Marianne wrote, “the array of flags across the rural cemetery fluttering in the breeze also provide a special tribute to the lady who took some much care with a quiet but meaningful gesture each and every Memorial Day.” 

That was Eva May Whitehead ... quiet but meaningful.  

lives were touched by Eva May have come up with a way to honor her, for all she has given to Sandpoint High athletics. 

“Honoring Eva” was created recently as a fund to support the Sandpoint High boys basketball program. 

Will Love, who recently was named Sandpoint High boys basketball coach after years of coaching the Bulldog girls, had Eva May as a math teacher, but also lives in the same Selle neighborhood in which Eva resided. 

Those wishing to honor Eva’s memory, and support the Sandpoint boys basketball program, can drop off or mail a check to Sandpoint High School, 410 S. Division, Sandpoint, ID 83864-1777. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.