Betty Louise Hoffman

Loving wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and dedicated community leader and philanthropist, Betty Louise Hoffman passed away in Long Branch, NJ on February 1, 2026, at the age of 101. She was universally acknowledged as one of the most beautiful, elegant, kind, thoughtful, caring, appreciative, generous and selfless women anyone had met. She was a role model for many young women in her community.

Betty Louise Spiegal was born in Davenport, Iowa, on May 11, 1924, to Sylvia Orloff Spiegal and Charles Spiegal. Her mother, a graduate of the University of Nebraska, was born in Nebraska to parents from Belarus, and her father, a World War I veteran, was born in Russia and immigrated as a child to Nebraska. At the age of three, Betty Louise moved with her family to Marion, Indiana, where she lived with her sisters, June and Barbara Sue, and was surrounded by the extended family of her mother’s sisters. When she was ten, the family relocated to Anderson, Indiana, where her father owned a credit clothing store. Betty Louise graduated from Anderson High School in 1942, where she was known as Sandy or Red, and was one of only three Jewish students (483 students in her graduating class), a member of the National Honor Society, senior class secretary, editor-in-chief of the school newspaper (X-Ray) and prom queen attendant (runner up).

In 1942, she entered Indiana University, transferring in her junior year to Northwestern University for its specialized undergraduate teaching program. At Northwestern, she was house president of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and a member of the Women’s Self Government Association and earned her B.S. in June 1946. During the 1950s, she furthered her education by obtaining a teaching certificate for English in upper grade programs at Monmouth College.

On her graduation day in June 1946, Betty Louise married Julian Hoffman of Belmar, NJ, at her parents’ home in Anderson, Indiana. They were introduced at Indiana University by her sister June’s future husband, Charles Fisch, and their courtship continued through Julian’s military service in New Guinea and the Philippines during World War II. The couple built their lives together in Belmar, NJ (1946–1962), then Deal Park, NJ (1962–1997), and finally Long Branch, NJ.

Louise’s gentle, gracious, generous, and positive spirit touched everyone she met. Many noted that she, more than anyone else in their life, made them feel they were important and appreciated. She always thought of others first and made sure they were taken care of and happy and never communicated any indication of self-aggrandizement. This was especially true for her family, which always came first. While raising her children and earning her teacher certification, she also supported Julian’s business ventures, including Wild West City in the 1950s. She co-founded Accent on Travel in Deal, NJ, in the 1960s and co-founded and managed The Paper Warehouse in Bradley Beach, NJ, in the 1980s.

Deeply committed to her community, she served as president of Hadassah of Congregation Sons of Israel in Belmar, was a founder of the United Jewish Appeal in Belmar, and played key roles in the Jewish Federation of the Shore Area and Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Monmouth County, where she was co-vice president, annual dinner chairperson, board member (Outstanding Board Member of the Year in 1995), and honorary board member until her passing.

Louise and Julian, married for 71 years, shared a vibrant life with a close-knit circle of friends, traveling widely and engaging in charitable and civic activities. They enjoyed time in Florida, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Puerto Rico, and traveled internationally to Cuba, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, England, the Soviet Union (where they visited refuseniks), and Israel—a country that held a special place in their hearts. They began visiting Israel in the early 1960s and delighted in celebrating their grandsons’ Bar Mitzvahs in Jerusalem.

Louise is survived by her loving sons and daughters-in-law, Stephen L. Hoffman, MD and B. Kim Lee Sim, PhD, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Jeffrey Hoffman and Rachel Mendelsohn, PhD, of Holmdel, NJ; five grandchildren, Alexander Hoffman, JD, Seth Hoffman, MD, Benjamin Hoffman, MD, PhD, David Rosenberg, JD, and Alexa Rosenberg, MS; and eight great-grandchildren, Eli, Jude, William, Sophia, Charlotte, Asher, Solomon, and Sadie.

Funeral services will be held at Bloomfield Cooper Funeral Home, 2130 Rt. 35, Ocean Township, NJ 07712 at 11 AM February 3, 2026. Interment will follow at Chesed Shel Ames Cemetery, 2522 West Bangs Avenue, Neptune, NJ. Family and friends are invited to gather at the Imperial House, 787 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740, following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Monmouth County (http://www.jfcsmonmouth.org/).