Obituary of Dale R. Hoff
Dale Richard Hoff, 95, passed away peacefully on Monday, September 11, 2023.
He was born to Hazel Lewis-Hoff and Theodore R. Hoff on November 16, 1927, in Galesburg, Illinois. Dale graduated from Galesburg High School, in 1948. He then went to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1952, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1956, he attended M.I.T., in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry.
His professional career was spent in the Research Laboratories of Merck & Co., Rahway, N.J. He retired as Director of Synthetic Organic Chemistry.
While at M.I.T., he obtained his private pilot’s license. So when he moved to N.J., he joined the Silver Wings Flying Club based at Hadley Airfield in South Plainfield, now the Middlesex Mall. There, he met the love of his life, Barbara, who was studying for her own private pilot’s license. They were married in 1959 and lived in Cranford for a time, then, in 1968, settled in Basking Ridge, where they brought up their five children.
Dale shared his love of deep-sea fishing for many years with family and friends on his boat. His prize catch was a 13-foot blue marlin caught off the coast of North Carolina. Dale enjoyed poker, puzzles like Wordle, gardening, and maintaining his wooded property. In his younger days, he delivered food to clients of FISH of Dunellen.
He is preceded in death by his father, Theodore R. Hoff; his mother, Hazel Lewis Hoff; his brother, Donald Hoff, and his wife, Darlene; his dearest daughter, Catherine; and his brother-in-law, Emil Hensle, and his wife, Judith.
Dale is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara Hensle Hoff, his four cherished children: Margaret Carstens, and her husband, Harold, Lawrence Hoff, and his wife, Rebecca, Bruce Hoff, and his wife, Jenine, Kenneth Hoff, and his wife, Denise; and his five adored grandchildren: Samuel, Emily, Ryan, Rachel, and Nathan.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, September 14, 2023, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Blvd., Watchung, NJ. A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2023, commencing at 10:00 a.m., at Blessed Sacrament Church, 1890 Washington Valley Road, Martinsville, NJ. He will be laid to rest at Holy Cross Cemetery in Basking Ridge, NJ.
Donations may be made in his memory to FISH Dunellen. To send donations by mail, please send checks to the following address:
Treasurer
Fish Inc. - Dunellen Area
PO Box 8565
Piscataway NJ 08855-8006
