Obituary of Helen H. Hofer

Helen Hodge Hofer Penfield/Fairport/Pittsford/Geneva NY: Helen passed away Wednesday, December 10, 2014 As everyone was able to celebrate Helen's life at her 100th birthday party in April 2014, there will be no memorial. Her ashes will be interred with her husband's in Oakwood Cemetery, Penfield. We are grateful to Jeff, Mark and Amy at Jennings Funeral Home, Penfield (jenningsnultonmattlefh.com)—for their support and good humor. Some images of Helen Josephine Hodge Hofer (our Aunt Helen): Helen jumping rope with her black curls bouncing and chanting" Imogene Josephine Phoebe Ann Carr" (names of her grandmother and great aunt). We continued to do this (without the jumping!). In later life Helen was afraid of dogs because they jumped around so much, but there is a beautiful photograph of her at about age 8 looking confident and standing beside an enormous dog. Her niece Jeanne calmed the dog fears through introducing Helen to her many pets. In the 1930s she waited table at Big Moose Lodge looking demure and adorable in her service dress. She swam across the lake several times. As a confident and intelligent teacher standing at the blackboard, chalk in hand, poised before tackling a geometry problem for her students. Always with Harland, always happy. Hodge Family, Geneva. Helen was the middle child of five siblings born in Geneva NY to Mable and Richard Hodge (Muriel, Gerald, Helen, Francis, and Betty). Her father was co-owner of the barbershop in the historic Kirkwood Hotel at the corner of Seneca and Castle Streets in Geneva (torn down in 1966). Her family owned their house on Goodelle Terrace for 100 years and attended First United Methodist Church of Geneva (Mable, Richard and Muriel sang in the choir; Mable was a celebrated "toast mistress" in her church study group.) Summers in the 1920s were spent camping on Seneca Lake across the canal inlet from the current Stivers Marina and the Crows Nest restaurant. Frequently, her father rowed across the lake after work to join the family at the campsite. Helen played girls basketball in high school – all five feet two of her! Short Bio. Helen graduated from Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva in 1936 and taught math for nearly 30 years at Fairport High School, retiring in 1969. She bought her first car from her future husband Harland Hofer in 1945. They were married in 1956 and had 40 beautiful years. Helen always said, "Harland had many girlfriends, but I was the last one." Together they managed his family's historic car dealership and garage, Schaufelberger Brothers, located at the Four Corners in Penfield until 1992. They were active participants in the Penfield, Fairport, and East Rochester communities; and enjoyed international travel to Rotary Conventions. In 2002 after Harland's death, Helen and her older sister Muriel Hodge moved to The Highlands at Pittsford. Helen loved bridge and played until she was 99 with her good friend Brownie Hoffman and others at the Highlands. Remarkably Helen had not one touch of arthritis. Turning 100. Helen was saddest when she thought about her siblings being "all gone" and therefore she had no family. She was thrilled with her 100th birthday party when her extended family showed up in force: Esther Clark Scott (first cousin from Potsdam); 10 second cousins from the Clark and Hodge families; a member of the Schram family in Geneva (Ginny's in-laws were neighbors on Goodelle Terrace); Harland's nephew Adrian Nevin and Cal and Rosie Stiner (Cal worked with Harland at the garage for many years); the Rought children (children of Fairport teacher Helen and Mel Rought), several Thomas children (children of Helen's neighbors on Hillcrest Drive); six of niece Betsy's Burrows Hills Drive friends from the early 60s; and several of niece Jeanne's friends who knew Helen. The birthday lunch was held in Geneva at the Crows Nest restaurant, across from the family campsite on the Lake. About 25 friends and neighbors attended her birthday tea at The Highlands in Pittsford. For Jeanne and Betsy, Helen's gift to us was a party of same generations cousins and friends who will continue to share memories of Helen with us. Helen's immediate family: niece Jeanne Beck Roche (Seneca Falls; daughter of Helen's sister Betty) and her roommate/daughter Anna Gomez; Betsy Hodge Flack (daughter of Helen's brother Francis), Betsy's husband Jim Flack (San Francisco and Sebastopol), and two sons, Andrew Flack and his girlfriend Sydney Pfaff (San Francisco) and Bardin and Nena Perez Flack (Hawaii). Friends: Katie Caligulari (Penfield) who cared for Helen for at least six years, as friend, companion, daughter. Jane Barone (Penfield), newly on the scene but gave all her energy and kind strength to Helen in her last six months. And Brownie Hoffman (Pittsford), the last still standing of a group of good friends who dined together and played bridge together at The Highlands. Students: Helen's students at Fairport keep showing up in the most helpful places, such as a nurse at Highland Hospital. For her birthday wonderful cards came from many of them. We were all thrilled. Thank yous. Many heartfelt thank yous to the staff at The Living Center and The Highlands at Pittsford for their genuine support and care for all of us: Judy Sims, Deb Bolcko, Celeste Lorrain, Eric Townsend, Sarah Dibble, Julie, Loren, Cory and many others. Thank you as well to JMS In Home Care of Webster: Marianne Slish (owner), Anna Colon, Jane Barone, Ronnie McCollum, and the group of wonderful young women who made Helen central in their hearts. Please feel free to contact Helen's niece Betsy directly. Betsy Hodge Flack, PO Box 126, Sebastopol, CA 95473-0126 Cell: 415.652.6704; betsyflack@gmail.com Contributions in Helen's name would be lovely and may be sent to: The American Cancer Society, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Highland Foundation (Highland Hospital), or Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva. (see addresses below) Betsy's thoughts about her Aunt Helen. For anyone knowing the Hodge family siblings, they would understand that in the family, Helen was "the quiet one." She held her options to herself, but she definitely had strong ideas about things. The family stories go like this: when I was three months old my mother Beulah dropped me off with my two aunts, Helen and Muriel, along with a schedule of feeding, sleeping, etc. They were totally baffled by the "play period!" When I was about four Helen took me black- berrying near the rented summer cabin at Seneca Lake—in her new car. Oops! You guessed it, all over the front seat. She never scolded a word. She swam with me in Seneca Lake and eased my fears of the "Lake with no bottom." Helen didn't particularly like to cook but her picnics were always precise and orderly and Harland flipped the burgers. Her birthday presents to me were always special. I had the baby blue bowling shoes until after college. I still occasionally wonder what happened to them (in a family that throws away nothing!) Friendship. After parents' deaths (Fran and Beulah Hodge, Austin, Texas) and her sister Muriel's death, the friendship between Helen and me flowered. I was grateful to participate in her final years through many dinners at The Highlands with her friends, who have become my friends, visiting in Texas, Florida and California. She made the trip to Bardin and Nena's wedding in California when she was 98! In the last months and weeks I reminded her that she had cared for me as a baby and now it was my turn. She said she was happy to by at the Living Center where she didn't have to do anything. Helen's last ride. Helen was special. Always with a ready smile and good for an adventure. Her final one the day after her death was a ride with Jeff Jennings in the funeral home's beautiful black hearse (remember Helen loved cars and always had new ones!). I rode shotgun with Jeff and he drove us by the site of Schaufelberger Garage and past Helen and Harland's sweet home on Hillcrest Drive en route to the crematory. She left this world in her beautiful red blazer with her hands full of flowers and a tiny red cardinal. Helen's blessing. Drive With Care, Use Sinclair! Kind of a family joke but a way of saying I love you. As a kid I loved shouting it as we drove from Geneva back to Austin, Texas where my father taught at the University. Jeanne's thoughts about her Aunt Helen. When I think of Helen, I am struck by how caring and accepting she was. I spent many a weekend at her home with my uncle where I was able to utilize my imagination. Helen had a closet full of exciting and wonderful clothing, shoes, and hats in the closet of her spare bedroom. I was able to play dress-up for hours, without worrying about my peers from my street finding out that I was doing something so childish. Helen would make tea and my uncle would come home for tea and cookies while I sipped diet Pepsi from a teacup. These memories are among the most cherished of my childhood. Helen was one of my most avid listeners when I regaled her with stories of all the critters in my life. While Helen was not really an animal person who wanted animals in her personal space, she always was eager and willing to hear about mine. One Christmas I told her and my other aunt Muriel that I was going to send them both a puppy for Christmas. She believed me and told me that she would have to return them when they arrived. Christmas morning she called to tell me that they had arrived. They were stuffed dogs. I will miss Helen a great deal; we spent time laughing and being silly during the past few years. Info re non-profits Helen was fond of: American Cancer Society P.O. Box 22718 Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718 (800) 227-2345 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center PPO Box 5028 Hagerstown, MD 21741-9901 (212) 639-2000 Highland Foundation 1000 South Ave. Rochester, NY 14620 (585) 341-0860 In Memorial for Helen Hodge Hofer, Class of 1936 Hobart and William Smith Colleges 300 Pulteney Street, Geneva, NY 14456 (315) 781-3000