Robert ‘Bob’ J. Hoffer

It was Bob’s wish to live at home-despite his illness-with Joan, his wife of 70 years, and so his family, with the help of loving caregivers, did everything they could to make his wish possible. Bob was a fiercely independent man who loved the simple things in life. He will be remembered for his wry wit and courage in the face of adversity.

He loved the Adirondack Mountains. He was an excellent athlete — an avid golfer, fly-fisherman, skier — and he hiked his first High Peak (Cascade) at 80.

He was a lifelong fan of the New York Jets and classical music, enjoyed feeding the birds and watching the “critters” from his living room window, delighted in his three cats — Tom, Dick, and Harry — and looked forward every spring to treating his family to Donnelly’s ice cream. He was a gifted mathematician, and he loved the Rubik’s Cube and Sudoku. He read broadly and followed politics quite closely. He was very proud to be a member of the Democratic Party and was a fierce champion of progressive politics. He believed in universal health care and gun control laws, advocated for human rights and justice in conversations with his children and grandchildren, and believed it was everyone’s civic duty to share generously with those less-fortunate. He abhorred selfishness and materialism.

Bob was born on Sept. 25, 1925 in Brooklyn, to Josephine and Joseph Hoffer. He was the younger of two sons: his older brother, Joseph, died at 16.

Bob served in the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater in eight major sea battles and achieved the rank of Petty Officer First Class as a radio specialist aboard the USS Alabama, USS Indiana, and USS Massachusetts. He worked for the NY Telephone Company, first as a lineman, then, after attending Hofstra University, Bob was for more than thirty years an electrical engineer and then a lead electrical engineer. He designed circuits for Long Island, Manhattan, and Westchester County and was very proud that not once in his long career was any design recalled for redesign. For nine years after he retired, he drove a bus for Shenendehowa Central School. There he became known for celebrating every last day of school with a school bus pizza party!

He is survived by his wife, Joan (Garrett) Hoffer; two daughters: Susan Hoffer (Bruce Rowe) and Cathleen Hoffer (Keith Clement); two sons: James Hoffer (Hilda Hoffer) and William Hoffer (Jean Hoffer); seven grandchildren:, Matthew, Stephen, Andrea, Courtney, Nathaniel, Johanna, and Emma; and one great-grandchild, Caleb.

Bob requested that there be no calling hours or memorial service and asked that his ashes be spread in a private ceremony.

Donations in his name can be made to the Saranac Lake Golf Course, PO Box 581, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.

He always said he wanted to place a bench near the fifth green. It was his favorite hole on his favorite golf course.

Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake.