Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Hofer, Ben Frank 1926-2018
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1926-2018
History
Ben Frank Hofer was born in Milford Township in Beadle County, South Dakota on August 16, 1926 to Josua and Anna Hofer. He married Elsie Waldner in 1946. They farmed in Spink County, South Dakota. The Hofers had three children, Lowell, Darla, and Rachel. Elsie died in 2000. In 2002, Ben married Agnes Glanzer Waldner. Hofer was a grain and livestock farmer in Spink County, South Dakota. He was named Outstanding Young Farmer by the Redfield, South Dakota Jaycees in 1961. As an agribusiness man, Ben was active in the Spink County community. He served on the Spink County Pest and Weed Board, the Union Township Board, and as chairman of the Yale Board of Directors for the Farmers Elevator Cooperative. Hofer also served on the South Dakota Weed and Pest Commission. In 1995, their daughter, Darla, and her husband, Harold Loewen, moved to the family farm. Ben and Elsie moved to Huron, South Dakota where he became a member of the Huron Area Chamber of Commerce and served on its Agriculture Committee and Consumer Awareness Committee. In 1996, Hofer was a Republican candidate for the State Senate in District 21 for Beadle and Spink Counties in South Dakota. He lost to Democrat Charlie Flowers who had 64.78% of the votes to Hofer's 35.22%. Ben was also active in the Bethel Mennonite Brethren Church in rural Yale, South Dakota. He served on various church committees, such as the Mennonite Aid Property Board. He also served on the Central District of Mennonite Brethren Churches Conference Board of Trustees as well as the Board of Youth and Evangelism. Ben died May 2, 2018