Implement dealer was involved in community

Tag: farm implement

Oscar Hoffman, 84, a farm implement dealer who became a vocational agriculture teacher, died Thursday in his LaBelle, Fla., home from complications of cancer.

Formerly of East Merry Street in Bowling Green, Mr. Hoffman and his wife, Marie, made Florida their year-round home beginning in the mid-1990s.

Mr. Hoffman retired in 1985 after more than 20 years teaching vocational agriculture and industrial equipment at what is now Penta Career Center.

"He had patience," his son Steven said. "I think he really cared about his students, and he took pride in the accomplishments his students had."

Mr. Hoffman also helped students get jobs after graduation.

"He was making a meaningful contribution to kids' lives," his son said.

In retirement, he was a real estate agent.

Mr. Hoffman grew up on a farm in Putnam County and attended Glandorf High School. He was a Navy airman gunner in World War II and fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific Theater.

He received a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Ohio State University. His first job was at a sugar beet company in Findlay, where he taught farmers new growing methods.

He later operated a Ford Motor Co. farm implements dealership about 12 years, much of that on Dixie Highway in Bowling Green.

Mr. Hoffman was on the Bowling Green Planning Commission for several years. He was a former president of the Rotary Club in Bowling Green and was a Boy Scout leader and a former commissioner of the Toledo area Boy Scout council. He was a member of St. Aloysius Church, Bowling Green, where he was on the parish council.

Mr. Hoffman received a master's degree in education from Bowling Green State University.

Surviving are his wife, Marie, whom he married April 26, 1952; sons, Gary, Michael, and Steven; daughters, Anne Martin, Susan Wagner, and Barbara Hoffman; sisters, Dolores Meyer and Mary Shilling; brother, Karl; 14 grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Memorial services are pending, but are planned for July in Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to Hope Hospice, Fort Myers, Fla.