Gertrude Marie Goff (Hoehner), 86, passed away of natural causes peacefully at her home and went to Heaven for the rest of eternity on July 27th, 2022. She was preceded in death by her husband Col Lee Goff (Ret), parents Walter and Mary Hoehner, and brother Harold Hoehner.
Trudy was born December 7th, 1935 in Deansboro, NY. Her parents were immigrants who realized the American dream by starting a successful dairy farm and working hard; she and her siblings all were the first generation in the family to graduate from college. Trudy had a love of languages and graduated from Alfred College with a degree in French.
Trudy wanted to serve her country and became a civil servant of the US Army, where she met the love of her life, Lee. Lee & Trudy were married in Germany in 1960 and served all over the world until Lee’s retirement from the Army in 1981, when they settled in Colorado Springs. The Springs became their basecamp to return to as they continued to travel the world. They remained faithfully married in love until Lee’s passing in 2021.
Trudy is survived by her children Karen Van Everen (Barry), Philip Goff (Dawn), and Renée Newcomer (David); grandchildren Alex, Zackery, Hannah, Makenzie, and Jonathan; and sister Helen Monisera (Hoehner).
Trudy was the epitome of homemaker, wife, and Mom. She loved to cook and was gifted in the kitchen; all who sat at her table always wanted to come back. She did a superb job raising her kids, especially on Lee’s many deployments. She sacrificed herself for the betterment of others and always put other’s needs first. She loved to travel to new places—going to 5 continents—their suitcases were always ready. She was an avid skier and walker to the end, and even hiked up Pikes Peak when she was in her 50’s. Because French and German weren’t enough, she was also fluent in German, Spanish and Russian and loved to converse with others in all the languages. She worked at the Foreign Language Center for many years running the office and translating documents. She also loved the comedy of Red Skelton and his portrayal of Gertrude the Seagull, and Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.
Her real love, though, was for the Lord Jesus, who she loved with all her heart, soul, strength, and mind. She continued working and taught high school French and Spanish at Evangelical Christian Academy for many years and continued to teach languages at the Missionary Training Institute. She was an active member of Village 7 Presbyterian Church: she loved spending time with the Happy Daze group, was a regular volunteer at Focus on the Family, and she deployed several times to Haiti after the earthquake to help Haiti recover and tell Haitians the Good News of Jesus.
We will gather to celebrate Trudy’s life at Village 7 Presbyterian Church, 4040 Nonchalant Cir S, Colorado Springs, CO on 22 August 2022 at 10:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Evangelical Christian Academy, Missionary Training Institute, or Focus on the Family.
Steve Young
12 Aug 2022The Buckley SFB military Retiree Activities Office (RAO) would like to offer our sincere condolences on your loss. We see from the obituary that Col Goff retired from the Army. If you would like help with any matters related to casualty assistance, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), Veterans Affairs (VA), etc. you can contact our office on Buckley SFB at 720-847-6693 or raobuckley@gmail.com. The RAO is staffed by volunteers, all military retirees themselves, and our sole purpose is to provide assistance to any military retirees and surviving spouses/family members with anything related to their military service and/or benefits, in particular during difficult times such as this. We are deeply sorry for your loss.
Steve Young
Lt Col, USAF, Ret
Director, Buckley SFB RAO
Tim Ziebolz
13 Aug 2022Very sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you. I will miss seeing her and getting her wonderful input at the German culture and language meetings at the East Library with Ruth. she was a very lovely and gentle soul.
Brooke Allen
13 Aug 2022🙁 I was so sorry to hear this. Trudy went to our Russian meetup group and it was always nice to see her. She was clearly intelligent and I always loved hearing her stories. We will miss her.
I’m sorry for your loss.
Anke Albert
14 Aug 2022I’m so sorry she passed away. She was such a valuable member of our Spanish conversation group. Due to covid we met on Zoom for a couple years and I was able to participate from Germany. I can’t believe she will never be there again. We will miss her.
Sagrario Payares A.
14 Aug 2022My sincere condolences on your loss. Trudy was a wonderful and lovely human being, and I have the honor to share with her our Spanish conversations at the East Library. I will miss her.
Elizabeth Ball
16 Aug 2022Please accept our sincere and loving condolences to your entire family from all of us. Trudy was a wonderful Christian woman who lived her life as Christ would have her to live it. Her joy in everything brought joy to those who knew her, and that joy flowed from Him. May our Holy Father Bless and Comfort each of you. The joy of Heaven as God called Trudy to Himself is sadly our sorrow here on earth when we have to say goodbye to our loved ones, but knowing that we will meet again gives hope. We all send our love to each of you.
Anonymous
21 Aug 2022Trudi added so much to our Spanish conversation group She will be missed and I’m fortunate to have spent time with her. Doreen Fiorillo
Anonymous
3 Oct 2022Trudi, how I loved to visit with her. She had such a sweet disposition, love for God, and was a great supporter of the ministry here at Focus on the Family. She helped me with The Truth Project in French and several projects in Spanish. I rejoice that she is in the presence of our Savior. I will miss seeing her sweet face and those long talks. Well done thy good and faithful servant.
Ketty Kerns
4 May 2023I miss you so much Trudi. Your beautiful heart of service and love was a breath of fresh air. You are now in the glorious presence and I see you reunited with your hubby, 100% in health. Till we meet again.