Jean Hoffelner, October 1942-August 2024
Jean Hoffelner, 81, of Bonny Slope, passed away on August 8, 2024. Jean is preceded in death by her husband Jerry and is survived by her son Jeff, daughter-in-law Anna, her grandchildren Pavel and Hanna, her daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Don, and her grandchildren Abby and Noelle.
Jean grew up on Allenbach Farm on West Union Road and always spoke affectionately about her time growing up on the dairy farm with many loving memories with her cousins, aunts, and uncles. She moved to Bonny Slope at the age of 13. Jean quickly became friends with her neighbor Jerry and had countless fun adventures with the kids in the neighborhood, where she gained many dear lifelong friends.
The house on Laidlaw Road hosted many family gatherings and she loved helping her mom host wonderful celebrations. It was one of the Bonny Slope “starter houses” that we wrote about in 2006.
After graduating from Beaverton High School, Jean started her cake decorating career at the Bohemian Bakery and then became the cake decorator at Albertsons where she decorated beautiful cakes for generations of families throughout the community. She decorated cakes for ~50 years and represented the Bakery Union in many conventions throughout the US.
Jean and Jerry were married for 59 years, and she was a loving and caring mom to Jeff and Jennifer, and she loved spending time with all their friends growing up. She was a very proud grandmother and treasured her time with her family. You could always find Jean cheering on her grandkids at wrestling matches, ice skating performances, gymnastic meets, and recently tuning into YouTube for basketball games. Jean enjoyed making cakes for her grandkids, working in her garden, tractor rides with Jerry, loved a great NASCAR race, and visiting with her friends throughout the community.
She was active in her church and devoted to helping others her entire life from being a Sunday School teacher at a very young age, to the many dresses she sewed for Haiti, and the hats she knitted for the homeless just recently. Her sweet laugh will live on in our hearts forever and we will always cherish her saying of “one day at a time, sweet Jesus.” Her celebration of life was held August 31, 2024, at Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home.