Merle Suggs Hofmann, 93, passed away on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at State Employees Credit Union Jim & Betsy Hospice Home in Pittsboro, NC.

Merle was born on August 27, 1929, in Pensacola, FL, to Willard Walter ("Happy") and Tessie Suggs. She loved growing up in Pensacola and told many stories about crabbing and gigging flounder in the Gulf with her parents, sister Marion, and cousin Jane. Later, she enjoyed dances at the Eglin Air Force base, going to the beach, and even representing Pensacola Beach in a tourist brochure with several friends (her first and only experience as a "swimsuit model").

She met Donald Hofmann while both worked at the Armstrong Cork Company, and they married on November 24, 1951. They moved to England for a short period during the Korean War while Don served in the U.S. Air Force. Shortly upon returning, their first child, James Allen, was born and while still in the hospital, he contracted pneumonia which advanced to encephalitis. Jimmy died on March 14, 1960, at the age of four during an experimental shunt surgery in Philadelphia. A few years later, on January 15, 1963, Merle lost both of her parents in a tragic automobile accident. Their son Stephen was born in 1961 and David in 1964.

Over the years, Don and Merle lived in Wichita, KS from 1966 to 1979, and Signal Mountain, TN from 1979 to 2003, before moving to Chapel Hill, NC. She and Don resided at the Cedars of Chapel Hill for 20 years. Merle valued many rich friendships in each of these places and particularly enjoyed gardening, refinishing furniture, and helping decorate Signal Mountain (TN) Presbyterian Church's expansion and renovation. Most of all, she loved being a grandmother to her three grandchildren, Anna, Bradley, and Davis.

Don and Merle were married for 61 years before Don passed away in 2012. She is also preceded in death by James Allen Hofmann and Donald E. Hofmann.

Survivors include her sons, Stephen Hofmann and family, of Winter Park, FL and David Hofmann and family of Chapel Hill, NC; her brother-and sister-in-law, George and Lois Westerlund of Charlottesville, VA; and sister-in-law, Heli Hofmann of San Diego, CA.

A graveside service will be held 9:00am Saturday, August 26, 2023, at St. John's Cemetery, 301 N. "G" St., Pensacola, FL 32501.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in memory of Merle to the Cedars of Chapel Hill's Employee Appreciation Fund, 100 Cedar Club Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517.