Herman W. Hoffman III, 87, Stratford, passed away on Thursday, December 27, 2018 at Marshfield Medical Center.
Funeral services will be held at 11:30 am on Monday, December 31, 2018 at Ebenezer United Church of Christ, Stratford, where the visitation will be from 9:00 am until service time. Rev. Doris Ruben will officiate. Burial will take place in the church cemetery where military rites will be conducted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2227 of Colby and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6352 of Stratford. Sauter / Rembs Funeral Home, Stratford, is assisting the family.
Herman was born on August 9, 1931 in the Town of Cleveland, Marathon County, to Herman, II and Lida (Hagen) Hoffman and attended Stratford area schools. He worked as a farmhand, milk hauler and cheese factory worker until 1952 at which time he was drafted into the United States Army to serve in the Korean War. He took basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and further trained 8 weeks at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as a mechanic of and operator of heavy construction equipment. He was then deployed to Germany where he served as assistant motor sergeant until December 1953.
Returning to civilian life, he worked as a service station attendant and later operated his own Pure Oil Station in Greenwood where he met his wife Gloria Updyke and they were married on October 22, 1955. They moved to Owen in 1958 and he worked in the Feed Mill business in Owen, Thorp and Gilman until 1963. They then moved to Colby where he was general manager at Harmony Co-op until 1970. He was then employed at Cherokee Garage in all capacities until retirement in 1993.
Herman enjoyed building and racing stock cars, bowling, hunting, fishing and camping and was an avid woodworker. He was a lifetime Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The Hoffman’s moved to Rhinelander in 1993 and there he was employed as a school bus driver.
Herman is survived by his wife of 63 years, Gloria and their children, Pauline K. (Joseph) Connors, Laurene A. (Mark) Turner, Colleen M. (Bruce) Graham, Joeline J. Hoffman and Herman N. (Petra) Hoffman, IV. He is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. He is further survived by a sister, Lenora Leffel and a brother, Lyle Hoffman.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and 10 brothers and sisters. Condolences may be sent online to www.rembsfh.com
