Orbie L. Hoffman

Orbie Laverne Hoffman was born to Percy and Bertha Mahler Hoffman May 22, 1922 in Scottsville, Michigan and was the oldest of 9 children. He grew up on the family farm but at age 12 the family was forced to move because of the “Dust Bowl” which erased the farms and fortunes of many in that day. The family moved to Hillsboro, Oregon in 1934. Jobs were not plentiful in those days so at age 16 Orbie moved to Reedsport and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. In a South Coast newspaper, “The World”, Sept. 7, 2004, Orbie was quoted as saying of his CCC experience, “It made me what I am today, the discipline, the work ethics, the camaraderie.” Orbie had been so affected and encouraged by his experience there that he later spearheaded a memorial to the CCC laborers that stand today on the campus of Reedsport High School where the old CCC Camp once stood. Orbie earned his high school diploma through the CCC’s on that ground before Reedsport had built a high school there! The Mayor of Reedsport said, “It was Hoffman’s vision of growing up at the camp and his initiative that brought together the memorial.” Those who joined the CCC’s worked 40 hours a week building campgrounds, trails, planting millions of trees and clearing thousands of acres of brush. On the south coast they build hundreds of miles of roads, strung telephone wires to isolated homes and cleared underbrush in the forest preventing forest fires all along the coast. Orbie said. “My dad got me in because the family was in need.” Workers got $30 per month, $25 had to be sent home to families! Orbie arrived on “The Milk Can Special” that stopped at every little siding to pick up 10 gallon cans of milk. It took 14 hours to go from Vancouver to Reedsport! Orbie had only a few minutes to settle in before he was ushered onto a truck heading for Langlois where he began battling a fire. “I didn’t even know what a forest fire was!” Orbie said. He spent the next 2 ½ years all up and down the coast at a variety of jobs. He became a trusted “powder man” who blew up boulders and building roads above Golden and Silver Falls. Of his experience, Orbie said, “It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned how to work with others. I learned discipline. You had to work five days per week, whether it was snowing or raining. The work ethics and discipline. It shaped my life, really.” Thanks to Orbie and the fund raising efforts of his son, Steven Orbies dream of a memorial became a reality.

Following his time in the CCC Orbie went into the Navy and he went to aircraft mechanics school, something that would have been impossible without that diploma and recommendation from the CCC. He became a chief mechanic. After the War he got a job in Eugene working on aircraft engines. The he got a job at a Chevrolet dealership in Newburg. Orbie branched out and started his own auto shop and then owned several auto dealerships along 82nd Ave. in Portland. He also sold RV’s for a time. Later in life he saw that real estate was trending so he became a licensed broker and joined Tarbell Reality in 1979. There he met Aileen and they married December 29, 1984 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Orbie retired in 2005 when his health began to decline. Aileen helped him at home for 2 years and then when the stairs became to difficult to navigate Orbie moved to the care home George and Niculina Galan where he lived happily for 2 more years. The family would like to express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to George and Niculina for their patience, care, compassion and love that they shared with Orbie in his time there. He was associated with the Elks of Milwaukie and his rock and gem collection is at the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals in Hillsboro, OR.

Orbie Hoffman is survived by his wife, Aileen, two sons, Steven of Seattle, WA, Dennis of Sherwood, OR, two daughters, Debbie of Eagle and Diana and Michael Lewis of Jewett City, Connecticut and a stepdaughter, Kathy of Santa Barbara, CA.

Contributions to Oregon Alzheimer’s Assoc. in lieu of flowers.

Arrangements under the direction of Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, Portland, OR.