Gerry M. Hoffman

A Dallas native, she was born Dec. 29, 1923, the daughter of Victoria and Phil H. Kaufman and grew up in the Lakewood section of Dallas.

She was a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School and attended the University of Illinois.

Gerry would tell you that her family was her life, and her family would affirm that with an exclamation point. The immediate family included her husband Merwin ("Grumpy") Hoffman, whom she met while she was in high school, her two children, Karen and Barry, her four grandchildren and her two great-grandchildren.

Gerry and Merwin were married in 1942, Barry was born in 1943 while Merwin was serving in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer, and Karen was born in 1947 after Merwin had returned from the European Theater.

While the children were young, Gerry assumed the role of mother and homemaker. She was active in the PTA and was a Cub Scout den mother, but she also performed some duties beyond the traditional ones. For example, she was one of the original volunteers working with medical professionals in the 1954 polio Salk vaccine trial given to Dallas elementary school children (including her own.) That trial set the standard for national distribution of the vaccine in the mid-1950s.

She also went to work at about the same time as the secretary to the director of the religious school at Temple Emanu-El, where she had been confirmed when she was a teenager.

In 1960, Merwin's job took him to New York, and the family moved to Westchester County, where Gerry and Merwin lived for the next 29 years. But she and her husband never lost touch with Texas family and friends. Their homes in Hartsdale and Chappaqua were often filled with family members or lifelong Dallas friends who were visiting New York. During that 29 year period, four grandchildren were born, and visits with them were frequent and joyful.

Merwin retired in 1989, and the couple returned to Dallas. Unfortunately, Merwin died in 1991, but Gerry persevered, thanks to her own strong will and an equally strong support group of friends and family members.

Quick with a quip, she often looked at life with a raised eyebrow, followed by a disarming, beautiful smile.

Gerry Hoffman enjoyed Big Band music, dining out, movies, visiting with friends, and -- most of all -- her children and grandchildren.

She was forever young, and always thought of herself that way. She instructed her grandchildren to call her "Gerry," never some euphemism for "Grandma."

She was a lifetime member of Temple Emanu-El and the Sisterhood and was active in the Forest Avenue High School Alumni Association, Merwin's high school.

She is survived by her son, Barry Hoffman, of Dallas and daughter, Karen Parker of Framingham, Mass.; a sister, Millicent Kaufman; four grandchildren: Deborah Cantor of Sudbury, Mass., Jennifer Hoffman of New York City, Alison Hoffman Peeples of White Plains, NY, and David Parker of Little Elm, Tex.; and two great-grandchildren: Ethan Peeples and Rebecca Paige Peeples of White Plains, NY; and a brother-in-law, Harry Hoffman of Corpus Christi, Tex.

Funeral services will be held Monday, September 6, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at Temple Elmanu-El, followed by a burial service at Hillcrest Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in Gerry Hoffman's name be made to the SPCA of Texas, 2400 Lone Star Dr., Dallas, TX 75212.