1936
Melvin
2025
Melvin Hoffman
February 22, 1936 — May 6, 2025
To summarize the life of a great man is no simple task for a child.
In looking at that statement alone, Melvin Jerome “Jerry” Hoffman would have told me he was not a great man, but simply another man trying to do the best he could by himself and by everyone his life touched, especially his family. Such a simple man, yet a conversation with him had hidden complexity if you opened your heart to hear it. Yet another time you may have heard him listening intensely with a solemn grace in boisterous silence clinging to your every word. He reminisced of his dates with his future wife, Charlotte Marie Hoffman, having to take her on dates in a coal truck; a way of saying love has nothing to do with the material. He said the words ‘no brag, just fact’ to me personally a thousand times in my life which adds to the thought I try to convey here. He loved. He loved with a ferocity of patience and understanding. He loved until he passed to be with his wife and daughter, Dawn Denise, and is now making heaven an even better after.
He left us on May 6, 2025 leaving behind his remaining children Kent and Tina, her husband Mark Elyea, and his grandson Kameron Jerome. He farmed, was a teacher, became a beloved principal that touched so many lives, worked as a school administrator, and ended his career as a superintendent of schools in Blue Mound Illinois touching hundreds of lives. Simply put, he loved, he was loved, and his memories will continue to warm the hearts of so many even in passing. I can almost see the Jerry smile he would have had were he able to read this for himself. Graveside services will be at 2:00pm at Graceland Cemetery on May 27 th in Decatur, IL. with a gathering to follow. Venue will be provided at the service.
In looking at that statement alone, Melvin Jerome “Jerry” Hoffman would have told me he was not a great man, but simply another man trying to do the best he could by himself and by everyone his life touched, especially his family. Such a simple man, yet a conversation with him had hidden complexity if you opened your heart to hear it. Yet another time you may have heard him listening intensely with a solemn grace in boisterous silence clinging to your every word. He reminisced of his dates with his future wife, Charlotte Marie Hoffman, having to take her on dates in a coal truck; a way of saying love has nothing to do with the material. He said the words ‘no brag, just fact’ to me personally a thousand times in my life which adds to the thought I try to convey here. He loved. He loved with a ferocity of patience and understanding. He loved until he passed to be with his wife and daughter, Dawn Denise, and is now making heaven an even better after.
He left us on May 6, 2025 leaving behind his remaining children Kent and Tina, her husband Mark Elyea, and his grandson Kameron Jerome. He farmed, was a teacher, became a beloved principal that touched so many lives, worked as a school administrator, and ended his career as a superintendent of schools in Blue Mound Illinois touching hundreds of lives. Simply put, he loved, he was loved, and his memories will continue to warm the hearts of so many even in passing. I can almost see the Jerry smile he would have had were he able to read this for himself. Graveside services will be at 2:00pm at Graceland Cemetery on May 27 th in Decatur, IL. with a gathering to follow. Venue will be provided at the service.
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