Colleen Hofelman

LILLIAN COLLEEN HOFELMAN was born to Melvin and Sarah (Cammock) Sundvold on a farm near Harrisburg, Lincoln County, South Dakota, on December 7, 1927. She was baptized in the Canton Lutheran Church. As a child, she and her family moved to Canton, South Dakota. She was confirmed in the West Prairie Lutheran Church in rural Lennox, South Dakota. She was always known by her middle name, Colleen. The family lived in Canton until moving to a farm near Lennox, where she attended grade school and began high school. They then moved to a farm near Brandon, South Dakota and she graduated from Brandon High School in 1945. She attended nurses training as part of the Cadet Nurse Corps. She moved to Clark, South Dakota with her family and worked in a clinic in Watertown, South Dakota. She later moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She and Arthur Hofelman, Jr., were married on Feb. 22, 1951, in Brandon. They resided in Pipestone County, Minnesota their entire married life. Colleen enjoyed a career as a news reporter for the Worthington Daily Globe for 25 years. During that time she made eight trips to Northern Ireland and reported on the "Troubles". While there, she was proud to meet many relatives and enjoyed the challenge of being in a war zone-atmosphere. One highlight was being invited to attend a meeting of the Northern Irish parliament and meet with Prime Minister Brian Faulkner along with several other important government personages.

Colleen's creativity was exhibited in many ways, including painting, poetry, short-story writing and maintaining a beautiful garden at her home. She delighted in entertaining and telling Irish tales. Her several volumes of poetry, memoir and fiction were enjoyed by many friends and family.

She cherished her family, good neighbors, Garden Club members and her loving friends. Colleen's network of friends spanned many states and countries and she enjoyed visiting with them by phone, social media and e-mail. She kept close contact with her relatives in Northern Ireland, and enjoyed hosting them when they came to Minnesota to visit. Her trip to Scandinavia with dear friend, Barbara Forbragd (for whom her daughter was named) was a delight and she spoke of it often.

Colleen entered the care of the Pipestone County Hospice House and passed away peacefully there on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at the age of 94 years.

Colleen and Art had three children, Barbara (Linn) Averill of Green Valley, Arizona, Arthur Hofelman III (Karlin) of Woodbury, Minnesota, and Brian John, who died in 1964. Her four granddaughters, Erin and Ann Averill, A.J. and Lily Hofelman and great-grandson Tyler Veness, were very dear to her. She was preceded by her husband, Art in 2003; her parents; her stepmother, Lydia Sundvold; sister, Florence Bross; and her two-year-old son, Brian.