Marjorie Hoffman Celebrates 108th Birthday - ACV's oldest resident
Advent Christian Village is proud to celebrate the 108th birthday of Marjorie Zuidema Hoffman, currently the oldest living resident at ACV.
Marjorie Hoffman celebrating her 108th birthday recently. -Photo: Submitted
Born and raised in Holland, Michigan, her family was among the first settlers in that area when they came over from the Netherlands in the 1840s to escape religious prosecution.
She has fond memories of growing up in a close, loving family, where her father Jacob was the City Engineer of Holland but still spent a lot of time with his wife Reka and their three children. Marjorie was the middle child who become a nurse, her older brother Jacob (Jay) was an ENT doctor who became Chief of Staff at Weld County General Hospital, and her younger brother George was a renowned doctor and surgeon who was the Director of Surgery at Johns Hopkins and later Vice Provost for Medical Affairs and Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan.
Marjorie married Howard Hoffman, a funeral director, in 1936 at the age of 20. “It was all he ever wanted to be,” recalls their granddaughter Janie. “Even as a child, he played at being a funeral director!” They had one child, Paul, and Marjorie worked as a nurse but also played the organ at the funeral home.
In 1968 they retired to Tarpon Springs and enjoyed traveling the world extensively before Howard passed away in 1987 from cancer. Their son relocated to Tampa to be closer to them and worked as a news anchor at a local television station there. He and his wife Jane had four children, Tammy, Lisa, Tim, and Janie. As their health declined they moved in with their daughter Janie in Bell, and now it was Marjorie’s turn to follow her son to a new home.
Janie did extensive research to find just the right place for her grandmother, and chose Advent Christian Village because of the Christian values, the continuum of care, and the friendly environment. Marjorie moved into her own apartment in Dowling House in 2015 at age 99 and knew it was the right place for her. She frequently tells her family, “This is a good place. I’m happy here!”
Three years later, at 102, she transferred to Dacier Manor for assisted living, and has been in Good Samaritan Center for two years now.
“When she was 102 the hospice that had been providing care for her said she no longer qualified for their services, and released her,” says Janie. “I guess they were right, since she’s still going strong at 108!”
Janie and her sister Lisa, both Realtors who live locally, have always visited their grandmother frequently, but during the Covid lockdown the family had to rely on just the telephone to keep in touch. Paul continued to call his mother every morning at 9 am, and every day she’d say the same thing: “Who’s this??”. When he contracted Covid he did not tell his mother because he didn’t want to worry her, but continued his daily calls, even on the day he died in 2021 at the age of 83. ACV was still in a lockdown and none of her family was able to come tell her the devastating news in person. Paul hadn’t even told her that his own wife had died three months earlier, so it was especially hard for his daughters to share the news of both of their parents’ deaths with their grandmother.
Marjorie has had a life full of activity and adventures, but the story she told the most is how she was kidnapped at the age of 5. A woman had snatched her up while she was outside, and drove off with her in a car, but stopped in town and when she got out to go into a building, little Marjorie jumped out of the car and began crying loudly, attracting the attention of another women who she says saved her. Her family was never able to learn the identity of the woman who rescued her, and referred to her always as “an angel sent by God.”
Longevity is part of her genetics, with a mother who lived to be 98, and brothers who both lived to be 92, but Marjorie has certainly outlasted them all. She remains alert and cheerful, socializes with other residents in the court, does word search puzzles daily, and even still plays the piano and sings with her friend Joan Wittman. She has long been completely deaf but her vision is good and visitors communicate with her by writing on a notepad or cell phone. She is still mobile and able to get around with a walker when she wants, although she relies on a wheelchair for longer trips. Her granddaughters and great-grandchildren are frequent visitors. “We don’t dare show up without chocolate,” says granddaughter Lisa. “It’s her elixir for a long life!”
Marjorie’s legacy includes her son Paul, four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and 10 great-great grandchildren, ranging in age from 5 to 16. We hope to continue to celebrate with Marjorie and are blessed to have her as part of our community!
Marjorie Hoffman with two of her granddaughters, two of her great-granddaughters and two of her great-great grandchildren at her 108th birthday party. -Photo: Submitted
