Elmer Lee Hoffman

Elmer Lee Hoffman was born on December 29, 1919, to Emma Irene Carver and Albert Lynn Hoffman. They lived in Dayton, Washington on the edge of town. He had one brother, Lynn and one sister, Mable. His dad worked on the railroad.

They moved to Nezperce, Idaho, where Elmer started school with Lynn and Mable continuing through the sixth grade. In order to get his 8th grade diploma, Elmer went to the Civilian Conservation Camp in Goldendale, Washington, for six months. In the CC Camp, they did all kinds of things like cleaning out brush and building rick rack dams across the creeks.

Elmer’s parents divorced when he was ten or eleven. Elmer stayed with his dad while Lynn and Mable went with their mother back to Dayton, WA. Elmer later went back to Dayton and got a job working for Orie Fletcher hauling cattle and sacks of grain for five dollars a day with room and board. He stayed at this job for two years until Uncle Sam wanted him.

Elmer served in the 6th Army, 25th Division, in the Islands Russell and in the 25th Division on Luzon, Philippines. While there, he stepped on a buried explosive that injured his left foot and leg. He was transported to a hospital in New Guinea for a week. He was then put on a hospital ship with other wounded troops which brought them back to the states. He was taken to the Washington Barnes General Hospital, where he stayed for three months. They put him in a walking cast that you could smell all the way from Washington to Portland, Oregon.

When discharged, Elmer came to Oregon and stayed in Newberg with Uncle Orbie Hoffman. He then went to work for Raymond Thord building a new house. It still exists on the hill by Stark’s Airport on River Road on the way to Hillsboro.

From there, he went to work for Joe Jackson and was able to rent a room upstairs. He built the machine shed on the Jackson Farm. There, he met Nina Peterson who was Grandma Miley Buchanan’s half-sister.

Elmer and Nina were married in 1947 and moved to Kansas City, Missouri that same year. It was there that Elmer went to plumbing school and got licensed. He later came to Portland, Oregon, and took the plumbing test to become licensed in Oregon.

In 1948, Elmer moved to Woodburn and worked through Wolfer’s Heating & Plumbing as a sub-contractor for 17 years. He ran Hoffman Plumbing for the next 25 years.

Elmer and Nina lived in a little house on Settlemier Street in Woodburn. They later sold the house and bought one on Young Street. Elmer had to put a new foundation under it and remodel it. He gave $4,000 for it and after all that work, he sold it for $3,800. Elmer and Nina were divorced soon after that.

In 1953, Elmer married Constance Miley Jackson. They lived in Hubbard, Oregon, near the railroad tracks. Later they bought a lot in Woodburn at 810 Cleveland Street. Here they built an 1800 square foot home with a daylight basement and a storage room for the oil tank. Connie drew the blueprints for them. They later sold the home to John and Nellie Karseboom who still reside there.

In 1962, Elmer and Connie built a house on Hermanson Street. Again, Connie drew up the blueprints for it. They resided there until 2007 when they moved to Summerfield Retirement Estates in Kings City. From there, they faithfully went to Woodburn every day for four months with lunch in hand. They had to go through all of their belongings in preparation for a huge estate sale. This was a lot of hard and diligent work. The sale lasted for two weeks.

Now was the time for the final cleaning in preparation for the new owners, Connie’s brother Bob Miley and his wife Cleo.

Elmer finally retired from plumbing at the age of 86.

For the past seven and a half years, Elmer and Connie have felt at home in Summerfield Estates, enjoying the activities. Elmer especially enjoyed the card game “May I” twice a week at the Estates and four times a week when the family came over. It was nice to have the freedom to come and go as they pleased until two years ago, when Elmer’s eyesight became too bad to drive. They then had to depend on their two loving daughters and son-in-laws to transport them to their doctor hospital appointments and Elmer’s hospital stays.

The last hospital stay found Elmer was low in sodium and oxygen. He was there two weeks. On the AM of the release, they took a CT scan of his throat because he had difficulty swallowing. The scan revealed the food was staying in the side of his throat and he would need to take special food and care. With this discovery, Elmer had to be transported to a hospice care home.

After a month’s stay at the elderly care home on March 18th at 10:55 am, the Lord said, “Come unto me and I will give you rest.”

Survivors include his wife, Connie Hoffman; 2 daughters, Joan Bacon and Maralyn Noel; 4 grandsons, Greg, Steve, Randy Bacon and Gary Grossnickle; 1 granddaughter, Brenda Elliott and one great granddaughter.

Memorial Contributions can be made to:

Woodburn Evangelical Church, Mission Fund, 1050 N Boones Ferry Road, Woodburn, OR 97071.

Help Hospitalized Veterans, In Memory of Elmer Hoffman, 36585 Penfield Lane, Winchester, CA 92596.