Our Friend Ed

Very sad news. Ed was one of the pillars of the Club. A great pilot, dedicated member of the Club and an all around “good guy”. I always enjoyed his lectures on filling out flight sheets. He will indeed be missed.
John O

Ed had welcomed me to the Club, Aug 2017, with “get out there and fly!”, which was nice. To be missed!

Ed was one of the absolute pillars of the club.  He joined about 20 years ago, I think, shortly before I did.  Soon he was club president and the club was involved in a complex lawsuit brought by some misguided members.  He had flown commercial, DC-10, and was an expert glider and tow pilot.  For years he kept the flight sheets honest, a thankless task.

His wife Gerry’s health declined in recent years; I hope she is well cared for.

I, too, have good memories of Ed’s time at Sky Soaring. He knew how to
be a great friend, not just to the club, but to each of us. When the demise
of Sky Soaring seemed eminent he stepped in as our president and rallied
the members. He was a unifying force… we needed that. Later he became the
first self-described COG (crotchety old guy). He not only let us know when
the flight sheets were not kept well, but also when we were not meeting his
high standards of airport behavior… and he did it in a way that made us
feel better about ourselves. He only began limiting his time at the airport
when his wife of many years needed him. I, for one, greatly enjoyed knowing
Ed.

Larry
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I met Ed on my first visit with my son and and a friend to Sky Soaring.
My son and friend were there for a glider ride and I was the designated driver.
My son was about twelve years old and Ed gave him his first memorable ride and even some stick time. We were told that Ed was the club president at that time and Ed and the club members made for a memorable visit. That experience was the reason I joined the club two years later. I am grateful for his friendship and the many good memories we shared. He was a devoted husband to Geraldine and a man of good character. He was instrumental in shaping not only our club but, as Larry said, doing it in a way that made us all feel better about ourselves. God bless Ed.

Was there any update to a possible memorial service for Ed in the early part of 2020 ?

Here is the link.

http://www.ahlgrimfuneral.com/obituary/edward-hoffmann?lud=0D9FC21F63A3FBA17A0A7AFA52B10DF0&fbclid=IwAR2jkyLZNa1gzwzNjhCOHooEK0ZLQmX8Zt4ni4Q2KZD6OwvYyMpckKEXVFA

If anyone is planning on attending Ed’s funeral service on Friday morning and wants to get together afterwards for lunch, I’m interested. Mass should end around 11:30am.

Best Regards,

John F. Phelan

http://www.ahlgrimfuneral.com/obituary/edward-hoffmann
John H DeRosa(OHM Ω)West Dundee, Illinois, USA
mailto:john@derosaweb.com
http://derosaweb.net “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einsteinhttp://derosaweb.net/matrix_codes/DeRosaweb_URL_MC.png