Matt Hofmann, (March 24, 1977-March 12, 2023)

After a lifetime of making this world a better place, on March 12, 2023, Matt Hofmann sighed a final time and left his earthly body to embark on whatever magnificent journey awaits in the Beyond. His family suspects there will be mountain biking, trampolining and sending love to, well, everyone. Because that’s exactly who he was.

Matt was born to Patricia and Lawrence Hofmann on March 24, 1977, then pursued a childhood of the typical antics: playing every sport possible, taking repeat rides on roller coasters and a brief fixation on parachute pants. In his defense, everyone wore them then.

Matt Hofmann.

While at high school in Temperance, Mich., he met the enduring love of his life, Lisha, and they embarked on building a future together. Matt went to culinary school — developing a set of skills that would make him a favorite at dinner parties — and eventually obtained a degree in Hospitality Management at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids.

The pair made a few poor geographical decisions (Detroit, Cleveland) before making their way via Boulder, Colo. to Sandpoint, Idaho, where they raised their two daughters, Kaiya and Rowan. On their homestead in the Selle Valley, they adventured in yurt-life, gardening and doing things the hard way (a favorite pastime of Matt’s).

Matt wove himself into the fabric of our community through his kind acts and generous spirit. He rode his bike with friends, got obsessed with volleyball for a good while, danced with his wife at all the best concerts, and played and played and played with his daughters, teaching them the important gifts of time, care and love in all its iterations.

Wherever Matt went, he touched the hearts and lives of those around him — from his years of service as director of Lodging at Schweitzer, to other families at Waldorf, to those he met through his dedicated meditation practice (which he was sure to encourage in others for all random purposes).

Matt lived a life of love and optimism that he willingly dispensed to family, friend or stranger. His steadfast presence, his deep care for the well-being of others and his abundant heart have left their mark on the lives of all those who knew him. He lives on in our memories, in at least one tattoo and in the way he demonstrated how to be a remarkable human. May we live up to his example.

Matt is mourned by his wife Lisha; their daughters Kaiya and Rowan; his parents Pat and Larry; his aunt and uncle, Claudia and Richard; by his in-laws, Jodi and Garry; by his sister-in-law and nephew, Julie and Calem; and by everyone who ever had the good fortune to cross his path.

Services will be held on Sunday, May 21 at Schweitzer Mountain.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Community Cancer Services.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.

Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal

You may also like...

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.