Ruth Mary (Morrow) Hoffman

Ruth Mary Hoffman, age 102, passed away early Sunday morning, December 21, 2025.  She was a lifetime resident of Emmet County.

Ruth was born on August 4, 1923 along with a twin brother, Bruce, to Charles and Eva (Clapper) Morrow in Levering, Michigan. Two years later, her father Charles passed away. Eva worked as a schoolteacher and later married Cecil Matthews. Ruth and her three siblings then began a new life on a potato and dairy farm that is now known as Crooked Tree Gulf Course. 

Ruth attended a little two-room rural school called Maplewood on Townsend Rd. in Petoskey. Later, in 1940, she graduated from Petoskey High School and then went on to obtain a two-year teaching certificate from Central Michigan College. This degree allowed her to teach elementary classes for 6 years at Maplewood and other rural one-room schools. In 1956, she completed a Bachelor of Science degree and spent the rest of her 30-year teaching career at Central and Lincoln schools in Petoskey. She retired in the spring of 1984.

On May 21, 1945, Ruth married William "Bill" F. Hoffman at St Francis Xavier Church in Petoskey. To this marriage, a daughter, Colleen, was born. Bill and his brothers purchased a strip of land in Petoskey known as the Boland Apple Orchard and developed the area now known as East Lindell and Hoffman Streets. They built several homes in this area and lived there until Bill passed after a lengthy illness in 1955.

On December 7, 1959, Ruth married her brother-in-law Joseph F. Hoffman. Three children were born to this marriage, and they spent the rest of their lives on the Centennial Hoffman farm, better known as Bills Farm Market, on East Mitchell Rd. in Petoskey.

Ruth was involved in the Farm Bureau Organization and at St Francis Xavier Church. She also belonged to the Emmet County Homemakers Association for more than 50 years and was an active member of the Michigan Education Association.

Early in her marriage to Joseph, along with his brothers, they purchased and developed some land on Walloon Lake that later became known as Hoffman Pointe.  Ruth loved boating and water skiing on the lake, and many special occasions were celebrated there.

Ruth and Joseph traveled to Germany and Austria and enjoyed taking their children and relatives with them. 

The couple enjoyed 54 happy years together until Joseph’s death in 2014. 

Ruth is survived by her three children, Joseph E. Hoffman, Mark (Susan) Hoffman, and Paul (Carrie) Hoffman; eight grandchildren, Julie Jozwiak Sidelinger, Shelly Jozwiak Kellogg, Joshua Hoffman, Kelly Hoffman, Bowman Lucas Hoffman, Abagail Hoffman, Rosemary Hoffman, and Garthe Hoffman; and five great grandchildren. 

She is preceded in death by two husbands, William F. and Joseph F. Hoffman; daughter Colleen Hoffman Jozwiak; along with three brothers and a sister.

There will be a visitation on December 26, 2025, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Stone Funeral Home in Petoskey, Michigan. The Funeral will be on December 27th, 2025, at 11:00 at St. Francis Xavier Church, with an hour of visitation before Mass. Her burial at St. Francis Cemetery in Petoskey will be held in the spring of 2026. Memorial contributions can be sent to St Francis Xavier School or St. Francis Solanus Church.