Donald M. Hoff's Obituary
Don Hoff passed away peacefully on the morning of June 30, 2010. He was born on November 10, 1923 in Astoria, Oregon to Jens Andreas and Ellen Stumli-Bakke Hoff. He graduated from Astoria High School in 1942, where he played baseball and basketball and served as class president during his senior year. He moved to Tacoma and enrolled at The College of Puget Sound, now University of Puget Sound. Drafted into the U.S. Navy in December of 1943, he left college to serve in the Pacific Theater until his discharge in March of 1946. Upon returning from WWEII, Don re-enrolled at "C.P.S." where he met the love of his life Nancy Jean Riehl and graduated in 1950 after earning a B.A. in Education and playing three years of basketball for his beloved Loggers. After college Don joined Graybar Electric in Portland and in August 1951 he and Nancy were married. He left Graybar to join the Toastmaster division of McGraw Electric as a sales representative covering Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In 1960 Don and family returned to Tacoma where he had taken a sales position with Washington Steel Products. In 1961 he was appointed Pacific Northwest representative for the Stanley Hand Tool Company. In 1969 he became an independent manufacture's representative with the Seattle firm Wickstrom, Baitinger and Associates Inc., remaining there until his retirement as president of the company in 1986. Don was an avid supporter of the University of Puget Sound, where he and Nancy were fixtures at University functions and U.P.S. Board of Trustee events. Logger athletics, both home and away, win or lose were also on the schedule. Summer days were spent "puttering around" and entertaining at the family lake property. Don's post work years were filled with family activities, volunteering for local nonprofit groups, reading and traveling with Nancy and friends. Taking daily walks around North Tacoma kept him looking and feeling young. He always kept a watchful eye on the ever changing views from his home overlooking Commencement Bay and Mt. Rainier.
Don was preceded in death by his father and mother; 3 brothers, Earl (Muriel), Irvin, and Harold (Mary). Don is survived by his wife of 59 years Nancy; son Dale, daughter Laura Edman (George), daughter Donna Reid (Rick) and son Eric (Sarah); 8 grandchildren, Lauren (Justin), Tal, Jena, Erin, Derrick, Andrea, Ellie and Andy; 2 great-grandchildren, Aiden and Isaac, nephew Bob Hoff and niece Sharron (Hoff) Stewart.
Don was an active member of Mason Methodist Church, Kiwanis Club of North-West Tacoma, Kappa Sigma Fraternity and a long time booster for the University of Puget Sound Logger Club.
A Memorial Service will be held to celebrate Don's life at 2:00p.m., Saturday, July 10th at Mason United Methodist Church, 2710 N. Madison St., Tacoma, WA. 98407. The family has requested that donations be made to the Don M. and Nancy R. Hoff Endowed Scholarship Fund at the University of Puget Sound or the donor's favorite charity in the name of Donald M. Hoff.
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