HADLEY, Walter Hoffman died peacefully at home with his girls by his side on October 15, 2019. Born in Alexandria, VA on 12 October 1941, Walter was a long time South Amherst resident and moved to Hadley 15 years ago.
In 1967 he joined the Amherst Fire Department and was promoted to Lieutenant 1974. Upon retirement, he worked as a dish washer for what is now known as Kelly’s Restaurant, where he then became one of the group at table 1 for coffee and laughs each morning. After his wife passed in 2012, he joined and attended the AA meetings at several locations and looked forward to those meeting each week. He got involved in traveling to other locations to give his talk on how important it was to him to stop drinking and what he had missed over the years behind the bottle. He was able to give his final talk at the AA meeting the Friday before his death, thank you to all of the nurses at CDH 3rd floor north for helping him meet one of his final wishes. Walt was sober for close to 8 years and his girls were very proud of him. He was President of the Amherst SALT Council where he volunteered to install Lockboxes for the elderly.
He leaves his four daughters, Lori Hoffman of Hardwick, MA; Brenda Martin of Colorado; Tina Adamczyk of Middletown, NY; Dawn Schabacker of Hadley, MA; five grandchildren, Gerry Basile, Desaraye Martin, Andrew and Matthew Adamczyk and Ashley Schabacker. Three great grandchildren, Mason, Aiden and Bailey. Sisters Connie Ruby of NC and Jackie Asbury of WV. He was predeceased by his wife Rosealine in 2012 and his parents Jack and Kay (Hall) Hoffman. Burial will be Friday, October 25th at 10:00 at the South Amherst Cemetery with a Celebration in Walter’s honor at 11:00AM at the South Congregation Church. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory payable to Amherst Firefighters Local 1764; P.O. Box 1234, Amherst, MA 01004 (memo line – In memory of Walt) to restore the Antique Fire Water Tanker.