Ron Hoffman 09/16/1941 – 10/20/2025
The Jackson Audubon Society lost one of it’s finest on October 20, 2025. Ron Hoffman passed away earlier this month to join his beloved wife, Joan. He served on the JAS board for many, many years. One of his major contributions was creating the Waterloo Christmas Bird Count as it exists today. This December will be the 57th count!
Ron was an educator, sportsman, steward, and a major force in making Haehnle Sanctuary the important preserve it is today.
Ron taught science at Stockbridge schools for nearly three decades and influenced many students throughout those years with his use of the outdoors as his classroom. Allen has much to say about that, below.
As a sportsman he learned early the importance of proper stewardship of natural spaces. He was a rare individual who was able to see both the sportsman’s and the birder’s perspective. A gift that many of us in the birding community do not have.
In addition to his service on the JAS board, Ron was also a long time board member of the Michigan Audubon. He was on the conservation & sanctuary committee which oversaw the management of Michigan Audubon’s properties.
One of his most lasting legacies in the natural community was his many years of service to the Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary. After Harold Wing and others worked with Cap Haehnle to create the Sanctuary as a Michigan Audubon preserve, Ron worked to build its acreage, habitat, and financial foundation. From his early work in the field with Larry Walkinshaw, Ron knew what a special place it is. Working with Michigan Audubon, local property owners, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, the Michigan DNR, USDA, Jackson Count Conservation District, and the Haehnle Committee he helped build a 500 acre donation into the largest Audubon sanctuary in the state, totaling over 1,000 acres.
Ron in Mud Lake Marsh
Here are some thoughts & memories from some Haehnle Committee members about Ron:
Penny Rund, Treasurer:
I’m so saddened to hear of Ron’s passing. He was one of my first Haehnle friends when I joined the committee. We had several nice drives together to the committee meetings. He was invaluable to me when I took over as treasurer. My financials are all based on what he had established before I came on board.
Most importantly, I always knew what a gentleman he was as well as a devoted, loving husband.
I will miss him.
Penny
Ron with an injured crane
Alex Johnson, Nestbox monitor:
I don't even have words. I didn't have the pleasure, as many of you did, of knowing and working with Ron for so many years, but for the short time I knew him, he was so welcoming to me and one of the most pleasant people I've ever been around. He was clearly passionate about Haehnle Sanctuary, and that was truly infectious for me. He inspired others by sharing his love of Sandhill Cranes, and love of the outdoors.
My condolences to his family.
Alex
Lathe Claflin Former Haehnle Committee Chairman:
What a blow! Such a good friend. Always kind and caring. Loved and devoted to his wife, daughter, and grandson. Absolutely devoted to all things Haehnle. There is so much we owe him. He was a visionary for Haehnle. His contributions are extraordinary and numerous. He understood we had a beautiful piece of property, rich in different ecological niches that if, developed properly, would lead to an outstanding preserve for native plants and animals, especially for Sandhill Cranes. He set it all out in the Wildlife Conservation Plan he wrote for us, a true tour-de-force. All that information in one place, what a gift!
On a personal level he easily found a way to tap into my love of the outdoors, especially birds, and encouraged me to participate in Haehnle activities. It fulfilled a dream I didn’t even know I had.
We are going to miss him, but every time we visit Haehnle…….
Lathe
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Ron, Lathe Claflin, & Gary Siegrist, former Haehnle Sanctuary Chairmen
Allen King Kate Palmer Steward:
Dear Haehnle and Jackson Audubon Members,
The Vietnam War is why so much was affected (butterfly effect) by Ron. Let me get to that in a moment. Ron's first conservation job was after high school. He and some buddies went out to work in Oregon's Fremont National Forest. One of his roles was to lookout for forest fires, fight them, and do the hard labor of a summer forest ranger. On the drive to Oregon, with his friends, they parked in a turn-off in the mountains to climb a slope and enjoy the view. Being young, and not so smart, they thought it would be cool to roll some boulders down the mountain slope. One rock took an unexpected bounce and was heading toward their parked car! Fortunately, it narrowly missed the car. Lesson learned. Ron's experiences, hunting around Munith and working out west, led to a Wildlife Biology Degree from Michigan State University. In grad school he focused on waterfowl biology. His advising professor, Dr. Miles Pirnie, arranged for Ron to do his research in Manitoba at the famous Delta Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Center. Ron became an explosives expert while there. His research was to determine if blasting holes, in dense marsh vegetation, would create open water areas attractive to ducks and geese. Ron would pack bags of ammonium nitrate farm fertilizer into the marsh and ignite it (farmers know it's highly explosive if diesel fuel is mixed with it). Mud and vegetation flew high and wide. With holes created, he then made observations to see if ducks showed up in the ponds created. Ducks were not as impressed as the observers seeing the explosions. Back home in Munith, Ron received a draft notice in the 1960s to report to the Army. Looked like Vietnam was in his future, but the Superintendent of Stockbridge Schools needed a high school biology teacher, offered Ron the job, and he thankfully accepted his offer. This teaching job got him excused from the draft.
My first encounter with Mr. Hoffman was as a Junior at Stockbridge High School during the 1972/73 school year. I enjoyed my first biology class so much that I would take all other classes with him I could. Mr. Hoffman taught biology through lab activities every week. This is how science should be taught, but it is hard work for a teacher. In the spring, Mr. Hoffman would take his students out to explore the surrounding wetlands to observe migrating waterfowl. I grew up in the Detroit area. Seeing the beautiful variety of ducks greatly excited me to take a deep dive into studying the local flora and fauna. This is how I spent my weekends and spare time. When Stockbridge built a new high school, Ron had the support of the school district to put in a prairie and nature study area.
Ron invited me to go along with him as he conducted his research studies of sandhill cranes in the area. Sometimes these adventures included Dr. Lawrence Walkinshaw, the world expert on cranes and champion to prevent the extinction of cranes in Michigan. In the early 1970's, Michigan cranes were still in relatively small numbers, unlike the large numbers today. Ron's studies included canoeing around Mud Lake Marsh, in the Haehnle Sanctuary, to collect statistics from several crane nests. At this time, Ron was already managing our Haehnle landscape and conducted fall work bees. One of his early projects was to put a small corn planting in the back field (north of Eagle Lake) and fight the invasion of autumn olive. Why a cornfield? With the quickly rising population of cranes in the area, Ron could tell farmers, experiencing problems with cranes, that we were trying to keep the cranes on our property by providing them a feeding area. Good idea, but the crane population was increasing rapidly and the cranes were not interested in the small corn patch.
Haehnle Sanctuary has greatly changed since Ron took on the management back about 1970. Ron, even with his big task of being a teacher, guided the purchase of more land and the many improvements over the decades that make Haehnle a great place for nature lovers. After he retired from teaching, he was able to use his wildlife biology training by working for the Jackson County Conservation District. He worked with private landowners, many being farmers, to improve their woodlots and create better wildlife habitat. I am sure this job gave Ron the insight to government grants for conservation. Many of the habitat improvements, and the money we have in the bank, are from Ron's steadfast pursuit of support from the United States Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
I followed in Ron's footsteps. I obtained a Wildlife Biology Degree from MSU. While there, I received the Miles Pirnie Memorial Award for Notable Wildlife Conservation and Education in 1979 for my film work noted below. I was given a summer job offer with the Fremont National Forest, but had to turn it down with a more attractive offer to work for Berlet Films to make wildlife documentaries. My first assignment was to make a film on sandhill cranes and the Great Animal Stories series was born. Ron was a big help in advising the Berlets and me to complete the Greater Sandhill Crane Story about 1977. In 1990, I became a teacher at East Jackson Schools. I made it a priority to do at least one science activity lab with my students every week. I worked with the students to create nature study areas behind both of our elementary buildings. These included bird feeding stations, and students had to make observations of birds as part of their grades. All this was because of Mr. Hoffman's influence. Yes, he was a very kind, gentle, humble, and pleasant man. Ron never wanted to be in the spotlight but was most deserving to be there! This, I am sure, comes from his love of God, his dedication to his family, church, Christ, and wanting to be of service to embrace and protect nature's beautiful and mysterious creations all around us. The Vietnam War had a positive outcome. Thank you, Mr. Hoffman, for a blessed and well lived life.
Your student and friend, Allen King
My last picture of Ron at his beloved Sanctuary (Steve Jerant)
Steve Jerant, Current Haehnle Committee Chairman
Ron’s biggest gift to me was his understanding that planning for the future can be just as important as working in the present. After I became the chairman of the committee, he worked with me and taught me about the history, habitat, biology, neighbors, finance and many other aspects of the Sanctuary. He constantly talked to me about planning for the future-whether it was financial, habitat, or which of those dozens of scouts who just visited might one day be a volunteer at Haehnle. He was kind, gentle, knowledgeable, and especially good for me, patient.
Ron showed how to transition with grace. Over many months he transferred information, ownership, and responsibility over to me and other members of the committee so that we could be effective in the continued stewardship of this place he loved so much.
I will sorely miss him
Steve
Ron’s obituary from Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home, Stockbridge is available at
https://www.mitchellfuneral.com/obituaries/ronald-ron-hoffman
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, 11:00 AM at St. Jacob Evangelical Lutheran Church.
