Dorothea Jean Hoffman

Dorothea (Dot) Jean Hoffman passed away on Friday, September 9, 2016 in Sandpoint, Idaho at the age of 92. A Funeral Mass will be conducted at 11:00 AM on Friday, September 23, 2016 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The Vigil service will be said at 7:00 PM on Thursday, September 22nd at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Dot was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania the Frank Minium and Marguerite (Kaufman) Kepler on May 13, 1924. Dot was the first-born followed by a brother, Richard and a sister, Joann. Dot’s father died of pneumonia at the age of 34 when she was 12 years old. Dot grew up in the small town of Meadville surrounded by a huge loving extended family of Kaufmans and Keplers. The Kaufmans had been in the area for generations. The Kepler family had migrated from Germany and had been in northwest Pennsylvania since 1770. Dot married her high school sweetheart, John J. McCarthy Jr. two weeks after she graduated from high school in 1942. A year later he went to fight for his country in the European Theater of WWII. Six weeks after deploying he was declared missing in action over Germany. Five months later he was declared killed in action. Dot gave birth to their child two weeks after learning of his death. 1944 was a very rough year for a 20-year-old small town girl; she was a newlywed, a widow and new mother in that order in the same year. She learned to be strong, resilient and accepting by the time she was 20. Dot and her infant daughter, Kathleen, moved with her mother, stepfather and siblings to Denver, Colorado. Two years later she met and married Gordon Hoffman, a veteran of WWII who was pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado. For a summer job Gordon helped build a road in the Rocky Mountains. Dot, Gordon and Kathie lived in a small rustic cabin for the summer. Dot’s nemesis that summer was a black bear. At one point that bear broke through a canvas wall in their tiny kitchen while Dot and her toddler were alone in the cabin. Dot’s maternal instinct kicked into high gear and she began beating the bear on the nose with a pillow and when that did not dissuade it she continued the battle with a fireplace poker. The bear retreated back outside and sat there looking at them through the hole in the canvas until the noise from Gordon’s car frightened it away hours later. Dot learned how to be brave, independent and resourceful by the time she was 23. Dot and Gordon head three more children, Barbara, Nancy and Scott while they lived in Colorado. A job offer took the family to Palos Verdes, California in the mid 1950’s. They raised their four children there while Dot was a stay-at-home-Mom, an active volunteer, active in her church and busy sewing, quilting, knitting and doing other handicrafts. It was a happy time in her life. In the late 70’s, Dot and Gordon moved to the Portland, Oregon area to be closer to family and then to Federal Way, Washington in 1985. Dot worked for Merwyn’s Department store during those years. She continued to be a volunteer for many organizations, continued to do her handicrafts and took up a new activity – hiking. She hiked with a group weekly until she was well into her 80’s. She also began traveling abroad, which she loved. Dot learned to be adventurous when she became a senior. Dot lost her husband of 47 years when he died suddenly in 1995. After Gordon’s death she lost three of her four children. Kathie Poppy died in 1996 at the age of 52. Nancy Belt died in 2004 at the age of 54 and Dale Scott Hoffman died in 2009 at the age of 58. After all adversities, Dot had learned to pick herself up, get on with life and never feel sorry for herself. In 2012, Dot moved to Sandpoint to be closer to her daughter, Barbara. She resided at Luther Park until her death. It was a wonderful place for her to be active when she felt like it, rest when her energy ran low and to be cared for when it became necessary. Dot finally learned to let go of some of her independence and let someone else care for her when she was 91-1/2. That was the hardest lesson she had to learn in her 92 years. Dot will be missed for her quiet fortitude, giving nature, ready smile, positive attitude and generous heart. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law; Barbara and Bob Stout, her sister, Joann Ryalls; six grandchildren, Brian and Holly Stout, William and Travis Belt, Kimberly Poppy and Mark Hoffman; and five great grandchildren. Memorial donations may be made to St. Joseph Catholic Church Building Fund or Sandpoint Senior Center.