Lenora W. Hoffman

Lenora Vanderbeck Hoffman, nee Knorr, age 96, of Sussex, NJ, joined her Lord and Savior on Christmas Day.

It is Christmas Day, and Jesus had plans; he chose to celebrate his birth by having Lenora join Him in heaven. I read the obituaries daily, and I was determined that when the time came to compose my mother's, I would make it exceptionally different from the rest. My mother was an angel, with a pure heart and an extraordinary talent for transforming any space into a pristine environment. Her capacity to care for and love her family was unmatched.

I devoted many years to caring for her, and I would not change a single moment of that. I am profoundly grateful that I was present to witness her open her eyes for the last time, as I know she beheld Jesus and took her final breath. I will forever be thankful for that precious moment. Throughout our lives, we seek love and happiness, and as time passes, we are reminded that death is inevitable for all.

My message to anyone reading this is that we will one day close our eyes, and hopefully, when we do, we will awaken in heaven. The gift of salvation is free. Jesus is indeed the truth, and I urge you to come to know Him this season; you will not be disappointed. When I lost my daughter five years ago, I would have been devoid of strength to continue if it were not for my faith in the Lord.

If you can take anything from this obituary, it is to find Jesus before it is too late. I will miss my mother dearly, yet I am comforted by the knowledge that Jesus is with her and that she is reunited with her loved ones. I take solace in the assurance that I will see her again for eternity.

My mother was preceded in death by her First husband, Harold Vanderbeck, in 1977, and her late husband, Wilton Hoffman, in 2008. Her son Thomas Vanderbeck (Ruth Oakland), March 2025, and her granddaughter, Stacey Sweetman of N.J., in 2020. Her brothers, Garret, John, Jacob, and William Knorr, and her sisters, Gertrude Van Eeuwen, Henrietta Castillo, Pauline Teschon, and Wilma Minnema.

She is survived by her brother Leonard Knorr of Florida, her daughter, Judy Welch, and her husband, Curt, of North Carolina; her son, Craig Vanderbeck, and his wife, Ellen, of Milford, Pennsylvania; and, of course, me, Debra Hooyman, from Sussex, New Jersey, alongside many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

The family of Lenora will receive friends and family at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, 257 Godwin Ave, Wyckoff, NJ, on January 7th, 2026, from 9:00 to 11:00, followed by a service at 11:00. Interment will follow at Redeemer Cemetery, Mahwah, NJ.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." - John 14:1