Thomas C. Hoeffner

Thomas C. Hoeffner, Jr. Thomas C. Hoeffner, Jr., 59, of Austin, died unexpectedly on August 11, 2007 while vacationing with his family. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, raised in Houston, Texas, and took up residence in Austin 30 years ago when he came to attend graduate school. He is survived by Marilyn Ross, his wife of seventeen years, their son Christopher, his brother Karl Hoeffner of Houston and his family, sister Caroline Livingston of Austin and her family, and a loving extended family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas C. Hoeffner, Sr. and Stella Dupré Hoeffner, and brothers Calvin and Jed Hoeffner. Tom graduated from Jones High School, Houston, Texas. He received his Bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Houston and taught mathematics for several years in Houston I.S.D. middle and high schools, where he created math songs, customized classroom doors, and utilized many other personal touches to assist his students in learning. As his sight began failing from macular degeneration, he returned to school at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology in 1989. He worked at Shoal Creek Hospital and the Oaks Treatment Center in Austin before entering private practice in 1993. He maintained a full-time practice until his death, specializing in child play therapy and clinical hypnosis. Regardless of the situations which brought others to him for counseling, Tom’s interactions were distinguished by empathy, depth of knowledge and power of discernment that allowed him to be a gentle healing presence. Tom was a past board member and newsletter editor of the Texas Association for Play Therapy. As a committed Christian, he was active in St. Louis Catholic Church, and also pastoral facilitator of a Small Christian Community of St. Austin’s Parish. The fervent prayers of two mothers who held God’s ear found a match and in 1990 at age 41, Tom married Marilyn and began life as a family man. He immediately became a favorite with his new relatives and devoted himself to them in return. Together, Tom and Marilyn shared wonderful adventures, skiing, hiking the Southwest, and traveling with family to Hawaii, to name a few. As he was a wonderfully stimulating conversationalist, some of their best times together were spent simply talking. They enjoyed driving to their destinations, where possible, for the time it afforded them to talk. Tom and Marilyn’s son Christopher was born in 1998 and Tom began the life of fatherhood that he always wanted. He was a hands-on dad from the moment Christopher was born, and applied his gifts to show his love in many ways: when Christopher was an infant, Tom composed lullabies and other songs and sang to him daily in his beautiful tenor voice. He used his artistic talents to create customized birthday cakes each year that reflected Christopher’s current interest, cut his daily peanut butter sandwiches into imaginative shapes and decorated the baggies with riddles or math problems; and drew and painted posters for Christopher’s room and decorations for holidays. He enjoyed assisting with any activity in which Christopher was involved, and they played endless imagination games, pitch and catch, and basketball. He initiated “math bath,” in which he wrote calculations on the bathroom tiles for his son to solve in his nightly bath. As an avid Longhorn fan, Tom enjoyed following his favorite team with his family. In this one area, he vacated his customary gentle personality to become both ruthless and heartless in his pursuit of victory. Tom’s sudden death has been a great shock to his beloved family and friends. At the same time, we are sustained by the knowledge that he rests in the Lord and the sense of his loving presence with us. We are blessed. Marilyn and Christopher wish to thank the many people at Yellowstone National Park whose prompt attention to Tom assured us that everything possible was done to save his life. We also wish to thank those who saw to our needs during those first hours of our new life. The list includes, among others, Dennis, Dot Sweeney, Al Miller, and Karla Jensen. Visitation will be Thursday, August 16, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. with Rosary at 7:00 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home. Funeral mass will be celebrated at 10:00 A.M. Friday August 17 at St. Louis Catholic Church, 7601 Burnet Road, with interment following at Austin Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Karl Hoeffner, Austin Hoeffner, Jeff Livingston, Steven Livingston, Brian Chiasson, and Gerald Arceneaux. Honorary pallbearers will be Norman Kittredge and Abel Lozano. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Louis Home and School Association. Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com