Dolores Hofmeister

    Dolores Pauline (Haynes) Hofmeister died March 8, 2019. Born Dec. 12, 1930, to Paul and Lula (Erikson) Haynes in Fleming, she grew up in Haxtun and attended both Haxtun and Holyoke high schools, graduating from Haxtun High School with the Class of 1948.
    Dolores attended beauty school in Denver and then decided teaching was a vocation in which she could influence young lives. She and Melvin often laughed about the fact that Dolores’ future mother-in-law, Gladys Hofmeister, as the Phillips County school superintendent, hired her for her first teaching assignment at Sunbeam country school north of Holyoke a couple of years before Dolores decided that Melvin was the man she would marry.
    After their marriage, they lived on a family farm south of Paoli, then resided in the Holyoke and Haxtun areas. She stopped teaching for a short time after the birth of their son, Brad. Dolores taught at Highland Center, Rockland, Columbine Elementary in Jefferson County and Julesburg Elementary and concluded her teaching career at Haxtun Elementary. She received her teaching degree from Colorado State Teaching College, now known as University of Northern Colorado, spending several summers on the road going back and forth to her classes.
    Dolores liked being outside and thoroughly enjoyed all of her animals, including horses, cats and dogs. She befriended numerous stray cats and dogs who found their way to their house, whether accidentally or purposely. She particularly enjoyed riding horses with friends and family when she was younger.
    She loved being in contact with her classmates and looked forward for weeks to their class reunion celebrations and loved seeing former students at community events such as the Haxtun Corn Festival.
    She was very close to several of her cousins and loved attending family get-togethers. Dolores was an avid collector of newspaper clippings of her grandson Wade’s school, 4-H and FFA activities and shared them with visitors. In recent years, she lived in the Fort Morgan area to be closer to her son Brad, his wife Cyndi and her much-loved grandson Wade.
    Dolores was preceded in death by her mother; father; stepfather, Paul Clements; brother, Glen; and husband, Melvin.
    She is survived by her son, Brad and wife Cyndi of Fort Morgan; grandson, Wade of Fort Morgan; and numerous cousins.
     A celebration of life will be held Friday, March 15, at 10:30 a.m. at Haxtun United Methodist Church, with interment following the services at the Haxtun Cemetery.
    In lieu of flowers, please consider inquiring about donating platelets when giving blood donations, in honor of Dolores’ life.
    Baucke Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.