Phyllis Hoffman
February 26, 2009

We lost a good friend today. I do not know the particulars of her illness or condition but I searched my files and found 37 photos of Phyllis at ATS functions over the years. I post them here to remind us all of who we lost. She was truly "one of a kind" and irreplaceable.

This is the notice from Mark Greenberg, her successor at ATS:

San Diego ATS Board and Council,

I am very sad to let you know that Phyllis Hoffman passed away earlier today. 

Services are scheduled for Sunday March 1 at 10:00 a.m. at Ohr Shalom Synagogue, 2512 Third Avenue, San Diego 92103.  Sandra Foster will be sending an email later today with additional information from the family.

As I said in an email earlier this week -- Phyllis was the ATS in San Diego and she brought so much passion and spirit to her profession, her family and her friends.  I'm glad I had a short time to get to know and learn from her.  She will be greatly missed.  She is survived by her husband Stan and her wonderful children and grandchildren.

Our love and thoughts are with the family.

-----------------

My wife's remembrance:

This is a letter that I hoped not to send but think Phyllis would have liked. She was always doing more for others and she did not like people calling attention to her. Phyllis was a private person about herself but she knew everything about all the people she knew. She had this magic trick of absolutely fading into the background at our events until she wanted to be seen and heard. Those of us who knew her know how impossible that would seem.

 

When we were interviewing her replacement we were concerned that no one could replace her. She had a sense of humor and the ability to make people comfortable. With Stan always by her side, a board meeting became a family event with delicious food.

 

I worked with Phyllis from her first day so I will share my stories. My husband, Nowell Wisch will locate pictures and send them separately to you.

 

Phyllis stories are bountiful but I will always remember her great faith and pride in her chapter members. After Phyllis had resigned, I was in the middle of resolving some sticky issues about my upcoming Mission. Not wanting to bother Phyllis I forged ahead on my own with mixed results. Phyllis called me and scolded me for not coming to her for help. Of course within 24 hours all was resolved. Her help was greatly appreciated and became even more endearing because, while she would be so watchful of our problems, I had no idea what she was going through.

 

I wanted so much to help her through these hard months and a family member would always underplay what was going on and graciously say that they didn't need anything. So, even in the end, she left a gift. Our memory will always be of the vital, clever, glamorous and gracious lady who loved shopping for clothes and always had a ready smile. She had the gift of making you feel special when you were with her. She will be missed.

  (Click on the little picture to see the big picture.)

022809

Return to Top

Once again, there is no copyright notice.
Once again, you have blanket permission to steal whatever you want.
Once again, send me a check with a lot of zeros before the decimal point.
Once again, well, never mind...