Longtime secretary served Perrysburg

10/16/2002

Mary Kathleen “Kaye” Hoffman, 80, executive secretary for 30 years with the city of Perrysburg who helped organize the annual Trout Derby and Perrysburg Area Chamber of Commerce, died of oral cancer Sunday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township.

Mrs. Hoffman of Perrysburg grew up in West Liberty, Ohio. She graduated from Zanesfield High School in Logan County.

While raising a family, she lived in Toledo, Florida, and Valdosta, Ga. In Georgia, she was a secretary for the Georgia Sheriffs' Association for two years.

Mrs. Hoffman and her family moved to Perrysburg in 1964, when she became the city's first executive secretary. Perrysburg attained city status just four years earlier.

She was the secretary for six mayors and three safety-service directors, retiring in 1995 as administrative assistant.

“It was important to her to have a good community to live in,” her daughter, Sue Grames, said. “Perrysburg stole her heart. She watched it go from a village to a city.”

During her career, she was secretary for the municipal planning commission and design review board. She worked closely with the summer recreation program, kept zoning records and City Council minutes, and took photos for summer passes at the local pool.

She was a great support for city administrators, former Mayor Reeve Kelsey said. “She was a good font of knowledge,” he said. “She knew about how the city worked.”

From 1977 until her retirement, Mrs. Hoffman helped oversee the annual Trout Derby held in Three Meadows Park.

Mrs. Hoffman and her husband, Joseph, were among the founders of the Perrysburg Area Chamber of Commerce. She was its secretary for nearly 20 years.

Mrs. Hoffman belonged to Zoar Lutheran Church and Perrysburg Chapter, Eastern Star.

She married Joseph Hoffman in 1949. He died in 1968.

Surviving are her daughters, Patti Bunch, Deborah Moench, and Sue Grames; sister, Martha Dunaway; two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg, where the body will be after 5 p.m. today. The family requests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.