Hofer, LeeAllen (Lee) (1937-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2007 Feb 12 p. 12

Birth date: 1937 Jun 28

text of obituary:

LeeAllen (Lee) Hofer, 69, of rural Tea, S.D., died Jan. 31, 2007. He was born June 28, 1937, to Christy and Edna Hofer. They farmed near Carpenter, and it was here that he gained a work ethic and passion for making fine food.

He spent four years in the United States Navy as a cook on a destroyer at the end of the Korean War.

He married Doris Epp on May 25, 1957.

He loved his family and enjoyed taking them on fishing and camping trips, tours of dams, state and national parks and other engineering and natural wonders. In later years he loved taking his son, his sons-in-law and grandchildren on hunting and fishing trips. He was a pilot and loved to fly with his son.

His passion for the outdoors spawned forays into hunting and fishing-related businesses. These included supplying several bait shops with live bait and hand-tied lures and processing deer on the kitchen table. He and his wife founded the family business, Lee’s Meats and Sausages, in 1980. He was a sportsman, hunting and fishing all over the United States, Canada and Mexico as well as in Africa. He was proud of his collection of trophy fish and wildlife.

He was involved in numerous sportsman and wildlife conservation organizations, as well as the Tea airport and Delp township boards. He was an active member of Good Shepherd Community Church (Mennonite) in Sioux Falls.

Survivors include his wife, Doris Hofer; three children, Valerie Anderson and her husband, Jim, of Sioux Falls, Rhonda Else and her husband, Cregg, of Sioux Falls, and Chris Hofer and his wife, Angela, of Tea; his father, Christy Hofer, of Huron; a sister, Kaye Corcoran of Billings, Mont.; a brother, Wayne Hofer of Huron; 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

A memorial celebration was held at First Assembly of God in Sioux Falls. There was a private family burial at Vermillion Cemetery.