Katherine "Katie" Hoffman
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-CUYAHOGA FALLS
Katie Hoffman, 100, of Cuyahoga Falls, died on May 11 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. She was born in Akron on July 11, 1920.
At the age of 3, her parents returned to the old country, to Gasinci, Yugoslavia. There she grew up,
married and had 2 children. Her husband was killed during WWII in 1943 and she fled with her mother
and children to Austria. Katie and her children lived in a refugee camp in Linz, Austria, for 8 years. She
returned to the U.S. and Akron at the age of 31 and moved to the popular German neighborhood of
Firestone Park. She worked hard to raise and support her children, alternating shifts of work with her
mother and sister, who lived next door, so that someone would always be at home with her children and niece.
She worked various full-time and part-time jobs to support her family, including at E.A. Pflueger Co.,
where she helped assemble fishing reels, and later McNeil & NRM Co., where she worked on the
cleaning staff. She supplemented her full-time income with housework and cleaning in the evenings and
on weekends for families in Akron. For 9 years, she traveled to work on city buses, walking home from bus stops late at night in all kinds of weather. At the age of 40, she learned to drive, and she eventually moved to Cuyahoga Falls, where she had resided ever since. After retiring, she joined the German Family Society in Brimfield and its Frauenschaft ladies' group. She volunteered alongside many friends in the kitchen, preparing food for the club's many events for 30 years, finally hanging up her apron at the age of 91. She also was a member of the club's Golden Ring. She was a long-time member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, where she baked her famous nut strudel for funerals and bazaars until moving in with her daughter at the age of 93.
She leaves a legacy of love, independence, hard work and fortitude to her family. She will be remembered for the delicious baked goods, the large vegetable garden she tended for many years, her fastidious flower gardens, the "good" rags she'd keep for all her cleaning, and the many days and nights of babysitting she did for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Katie was preceded in death by her parents, Johann and Agnes Schuster, husband Stefan Hoffman and
sister Paulina Flamm. She is survived by son John (Yvonne) Hoffman, daughter Rose (Chris) Spreitzer,
grandchildren Angie (Rick) Charles, Laurie (Wayne) Savage, Eddie Spreitzer (Kristy Snyder), Julie (Neil)
Unger, John (Theresa) Hoffman, Elizabeth Wilson, Jim (Victoria) Hoffman, Robert Hoffman, 13 great-
grandchildren, one great-great-grandaughter, niece Emma (Rudy) Lach as well as nieces and a nephew in Austria.
Her family would like to thank Kindred Hospice and Sunrise of Cuyahoga Falls for their compassion and
caring.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, May 17, 11:00 am at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 1905 Portage Trail, where the family will receive friends for one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Cuyahoga Falls. In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution in Katie's memory to the Father McIntyre Fund at Immaculate Heart of Mary School 1905 Portage Trail Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223 or to Kindred Hospice 4401 Rockside Rd. Suite 214 Independence, OH 44131. (McGowan-Reid & Santos Chapel, FALLS)