Lloyd Hoffmann

Lloyd J. Hoffmann, age 90 of Sauk Centre, died Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, December 31 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Marty Porter officiating. Military honors will be provided the by the Sauk Centre United Veterans Honor Guard. Inurnment will take place later at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Little Falls, Minnesota.

Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to services.

Lloyd John Hoffmann was born in Dent, Minnesota on December 3, 1920. He was the youngest of nine children born to William and Anna (Stender) Hoffmann. In 1932, his family moved to Kelliher, where he graduated from high school. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 5, 1941, applied for Staff Sergeant Pilot Training and was accepted into Flying Class 42-H. He attended flight school in Alabama and Georgia and graduated on September 6, 1942. After additional training at Barksdale Field in Louisiana and in Puerto Rico, he and his flight crew boarded the Queen Mary and arrived in England on November 2, 1943. He piloted a B-26 Martin Marauder medium bomber and flew eleven combat missions over Europe. He was awarded the Air Medal with one oak cluster, Theatre and Victory medals and the Purple Heart. He was discharged October 9, 1944 as a Second Lieutenant.After ten months as a pilot at Northwest Airlines, Lloyd joined the Minnesota Department of Conservation on August 15, 1945 as the Warden Service's first pilot-warden. He was stationed in Warroad and picked up the first plane - a PA 12 Cub Cruiser.Lloyd married Audrey Tonder on December 28, 1947 in Gatzke, Minnesota and together they traveled from Warroad to Phoenix, Arizona, and Olivia, Minnesota before Lloyd was stationed in Sauk Centre in 1953. He retired in 1976 with over 30 years of service. Lloyd loved to fish, casino with Audrey, fish, spend time with his family and friends, and then fish again.

Lloyd was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, the Disabled American Veterans, Paul F. Donart VFW Post 2853, American Legion Post 67, the Army Air Corps Enlisted Pilots, the Minnesota Retired Peace Officers Association and the Marauder Historical Society.

He is survived by his wife, Audrey Hoffmann of Sauk Centre; and three children, Steve Hoffmann of California, Jim (Marsha) Hoffmann of Erskine, and Cynthia Hoffmann of Minneapolis. He is also survived by two grandchildren, Heather (Marty) Humeniuk of Owatonna, and Eric (fiance, Jenni) Hoffmann of Grand Forks, North Dakota, as well as one perfect great-grandson, Dalton of Owatonna.

Lloyd was preceded in death by his parents; siblings, George, Herm (Ollie), Elsie (Ab) Jarka, Ben (Lydia), Frieda (Ole) Roe, Erve (Leona), Paul, Bill (Hulda & Mabel); and brothers-in-law, Allan and Arthur Tonder.