Wilma D. Hoffman

Wilma D. Hoffman, 98 of Sioux Falls, SD died on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at the Lennox Assisted Living.  

Wilma was born on a farm near Long Lake SD on July 14, 1926, and lived there with her parents, a sister, and two brothers.  She left home and boarded in Eureka SD so she could go to high school.  After high school, she went to work as a bank teller and ended up working in the banking industry until she retired.  

She married Lyle Traxinger in 1949 and lived in California, Wyoming, and Michigan.  After the divorce in 1956, she moved back to South Dakota to raise her two daughters near her family and worked at what was once First National Bank.  As a single mother, she worked extremely hard to support herself and her kids and did so with unending love and strength.  She was fortunate to meet Leo Hoffman and marry him in 1975.  Her life from that point on was a very happy one.  Leo taught her to fish and she developed a passion for camping and fishing.  She and Leo traveled to the Missouri River in an RV to catch walleyes, and she often said that coming over the rise to see the river in their RV made her heart race with excitement.  

They loved to play cards, visit family, attend family events, go to the Brown County Fair, and go on bus trips to various places in the US.   Wilma’s very favorite thing to do was DANCE.  She and Leo did so every chance they got and would polka and waltz until the wee hours of the morning.  When Leo died in 2010, Wilma moved to Sioux Falls to be near her daughter and brother and resided there until her death.  

She is survived by her daughters, Sandra Jorgenson (David) of Sioux Falls, SD, and Candace Waterman (Rob) of Cornish, NH.  She has four grandchildren, Andrew Jorgenson of Brainerd MN, Nicholas Jorgenson of Duluth MN, Rachael Dube of Bradford VT, and Travis Dube Windsor of VT; a great-granddaughter, Aria Dube; and her brother, Donald Schmitt of Sioux Falls, SD.  She will be greatly missed by all those who knew her.

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