Joan Hoffman's Obituary
Joan Lee Hoffman, 72, a Centerville resident, died Wednesday morning, December 2, 2004 at her home in Centerville. She was born in Centerville on May 18, 1932, the daughter of Bernard Aloysius and Ruth (Beard) Fuller. She was united in marriage to William Albert (Bill) Hoffman on August 13, 1955, in Centerville. She was a graduate of Centerville High School, Class of 1949, Phi Beta Kappa Graduate of the University of Iowa in 1953 and received her Masters Degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1955 while teaching in Elmhurst. She moved to Warsaw, Illinois with her husband in 1955. They moved to Centerville in 1958 where she stayed home to raise her family of six children for 13 years. She taught for 26 years in the Centerville Community School District primarily English Literature, College English, and was the faculty advisor to the Black Diamond Yearbook and the Student Times School Newspaper which is printed in weekly in the local Iowegian Paper. While teaching she was First Runner Up for the Iowa Teacher of the Year in 1984. She was selected as a National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) Recipient for a Shakespeare Seminar at the University of Iowa in 1983 and again in a (NEH) Recipient for a de Tocqueville Institute at UCLA-Santa Barbara in 1995. She served at the national level to select (NEH) Seminars in Washington DC in 1984. She was a member of Iowa State Education Association, National Council Teachers of English, Chapter KA of P.E.O., Tri T, Wednesday Club, MXL, Project Pride, and St. Mary's Catholic Church. She also served on many boards: Centerville School Board's School Bond Election, Drake Public Library, Southern Prairie AEA, Board of Public Heath, Diocese of Davenport Deanery Council, and St. Mary's Parish Council - School Board and various other parish committees. She was avid reader and swimmer, and loved to travel with family and peers to the National Council Teachers of English Conventions into her retirement. Survivors include her mother, Ruth Fuller of Davenport; sons, Kristopher Centerville; William Mark and wife, Sandra, Centerville; Michael and wife, Michelle of Palm Harbor, Florida; Richard of Waterloo; Stephen and wife, Gwynlyn of Drakesville; one daughter, Kathryn Ellis and husband, Paul of Newton; 16 grandchildren; a sister and brother-in-law, Peg and Dr. Alan Hathaway of Davenport; and a niece and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband and father. A memorial mass of the resurrection will be held at 11:30A.M.on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with the Rev. Ron Will officiating. Family Visitation will be at the Lange Funeral Home on Monday, December 6, 2004 from 6-9P.M. concluding with a prayer service at 8P.M. The body was donated to the University of Iowa Anatomical Department. Memorials may be given to the Drake Public Library, Centerville Schools Foundation, St. Mary's Catholic Church, and Appanoose Conservation Foundation directed by son Mark in lieu of flowers.
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