Myra Lee Jacobs Hoffman

Myra Lee Jacobs Hoffman, age 85, died Aug. 24, at Methodist Medical Center.

Myra Hoffman was born in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 27, 1926, and moved to Oak Ridge in 1950.

Myra has left us but she leaves behind a lifetime of love for family and service to the Jewish community. She was very active in the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge, serving as President of both its Sisterhood and Hadassah. In addition, she served as President of the Sisterhood’s Southern Branch Region.

She was awarded the Phyllis Grusin Weinstein Award for Outstanding and Continuous Service to the Southern Branch Women’s League for Conservative Judaism and honored by the Sisterhood of the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge for years of dedicated and outstanding leadership as President of Sisterhood. She was deeply involved in the organization of the Beth-El synagogue religious school as co-director and taught there for many years.

Her education included enrollment in the Johns Hopkins University evening program (then an all-male school) and a B.A. degree from Baltimore Hebrew University. She chaired the PTA at Woodland School when her children attended that school, was an active volunteer at Recording for the Blind, and worked as an assistant to the librarian at Robertsville Middle School for many years.

She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Herbert Hoffman; children Kari Hoffman of Nashville, Randy Hoffman of Shady Side, Md., Laura Hoffman Fielden and son-in-law Roger Fielden of Buford, Ga., and Larry Hoffman of Oak Ridge; grandchildren Emily Hoffman of Knoxville, Kate Hoffman and Hannah Hoffman of Oak Ridge, Riley Chapman of Nashville, Jessy Fielden of Norcross, Ga., and Sam and his wife Christy Fielden of Charlottesville, Va.; and niece Marcia McBride of Washington, D.C.

Funeral services were held at Martin Oak Ridge Funeral Home on Sunday, Aug. 26, and the family will be gathered each evening at 7:30 p.m. from Sunday, Aug. 26, to Thursday, Aug. 30, at 116 Canterbury Road in Oak Ridge.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Myra’s name be made to The Southern Poverty Law Center (400 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36104) or to the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge’s Remembrance Fund, 101 West Madison Lane, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.