Norman Roland Brahm
March 22, 1945— May 26, 2021
Highland Falls
Norman Roland Brahm passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, after a long illness. He was born in Yonkers, NY on March 22, 1945. He was 76 years old. Norman lived in Garnerville, NY all of his young life with his parents, Ida Mae Jones Brahm and John R. Brahm, and his sister Dianne.
Norman was a graduate of Haverstraw High School and received his bachelor’s degree in Education from Dominican College in Sparkill. He furthered his education by finishing a master’s degree in Social Policy from SUNY Empire College. He also received a Certificate in Gerontology from Adelphi University, and finished a course in Professional Photography from the New York Institute of Photography.
Norman taught himself to play the guitar and soon became an accomplished vocalist with a tremendous love for folk music. He was an active member of the local chapter of the Hudson Valley Folk Guild. All of his life Norman was a student of theology and loved his Episcopal Church dearly, participating as Sunday School teacher, bass in the choir, and vestry member. He was employed by the State of New York, primarily at Letchworth Village for over thirty years, where he brought joy, comfort, and compassion to so many disabled adults. Norman never met a resident he could not touch in some way; his music was personal to each one, and he was able to reach those who could not communicate with the world very well at all. This was the main focus of his work as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. He retired in 2000 and spent his retirement years enjoying writing music, poetry, fishing, taking photographs, studying archaeology and astronomy, and spending time with his grandchildren.
Norman’s other great achievement was the creation of several original songs surrounding the history of the former hamlets of the Ramapo Mountains. The Palisades Interstate Park Commission produced his CD “Fire in the Ramapos” in 1998. He also wrote and published other songs about the local area, including “A Ballad of Fort Montgomery”, and “Roll on Mighty Hudson”, which was chosen as the winner of a contest sponsored by the State DEC as the song to pay tribute to the Hudson River. He produced many songs and poems during his lifetime.
Norman married his wife Suzanne Burgert in June of 1970. He was especially proud of his three sons and talked about them all the time. They survive him: Paul, his wife Kelly, and their two children Madeline and Tristan; Nathan and his fiancée Karen; and Anthony, his wife Doan, and their daughter Anastasia. Norman is also survived by his beloved sister Dianne Moore of Maybrook, NY, and by several nieces and nephews.
Visitation was held from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at William F. Hogan Funeral Home, 135 Main Street, Highland Falls, NY 10928. Cremation will take place at Cedar Hill Crematory in Middle Hope, NY. A Memorial Mass and inurnment of ashes into the columbarium will take place on Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in the Wilderness, 119 St. John’s Road, Stony Point, NY (next to Lake Welch). Fellowship will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Norman’s memory to the Food Pantry of the Church of the Holy Innocents in Highland Falls, or to St. John’s Episcopal Church in the Wilderness, 119 St. John’s Road, P.O. Box 641, Stony Point, NY 10980.
Arrangements are by William F. Hogan Funeral Home (845)446-2868 www.wfhoganfuneralhome.com
Carol Kleiner Hoffman
April 23,1932—December 20, 2020
formerly Highland Falls
Carol Kleiner Hoffman, age 88, died peacefully on Sunday, December 20, 2020 at the Halifax Hospice Center in Port Orange, Florida. As was her wish, she remained at her home until the last three days of her life when she decided she needed more end of life care than could be given at home. Her two daughters were with her the last few weeks of her life and when she died. She was predeceased by her husband of 65 years, Henry A. Hoffman who was born in Highland Falls. She is survived by their daughter, Jean A. Wood, her husband, Jim C. Wood, of Rome, Georgia, their daughter Nancy E. Weidner, of New York City and Charleston, South Carolina; and three grandchildren, Alexandra M. Wood of Atlanta, Georgia, Justin B. Weidner and H.Chase Weidner both of New York City.
Carol Kleiner was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 23,1932 to Dina Monas Kleiner and Rudolf Kleiner. She graduated at age 17 from James Madison High School and in 1949 matriculated at Alfred University in Olean, New York, as a member of the class of 1953. She was an excellent pianist who loved Schubert and Mendelssohn, and she was an amateur watercolorist.
In 1948, while staying at the Bear Mountain Inn with her parents, Carol met a handsome young man named Henry Hoffman of Highland Falls who was working in the family business, Hoffman’s Hardware. Henry expressed interest in going on a date with her. After assurances from their waitress, who knew the Hoffman family, her parents consented to a first date with Henry. To her surprise, as well as her parents’, Henry took the then 16-year-old Carol flying in his own airplane that very weekend.
While Carol attended Alfred University, Henry would fly up from Highland Falls to see her on weekends. Eventually, the two became engaged. After two years of college, Carol left in anticipation of her wedding. Shortly after, however, the Korean Conflict began and Henry, who had already been in Korea at the end of WWll and honorably discharged in 1948, applied for and received a commission. After being sworn in as a First Lieutenant at West Point, he headed to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for further training.
Carol went by train to Fort Sill in order to be married before Henry left for Korea and even met a woman on the train who agreed to act as their witness, but when the train pulled into the station, she realized she did not want to get married this way. She returned to Brooklyn where she enrolled in Katharine Gibbs Secretarial school and worked as an executive secretary on Wall Street. Henry left for Korea where he served as a forward observer.
In April,1953, Henry received his final discharge papers. Two weeks after arriving back home and after five years of a long distance courtship, they were married at the Beekman Hotel in New York City and settled into a newly built home in Ondaora Park at 4 Clinton Lane, Highland Falls. They raised their two daughters there and were active, as a family, in horseback riding and skiing.
Carol had promised her father, before he died in 1954, that she would finish her college education. In 1969, she was admitted as a student of advanced standing at Ladycliff College, receiving her BA in History on October 4, 1972. She worked as a substitute teacher at the newly built James O’Neill High School for 14 years.
After selling the Hardware store the first time, the buyer defaulted on the loan. They were forced to take back the business and rebuild it. Carol worked as the bookkeeper and handled the government contracts with West Point. Finally, they sold the business again and were able to retire.
It had always been Henry’s dream to live in an airport community. Carol and Henry spent about a year looking all over the country before deciding on the Spruce Creek Fly-In in Port Orange, Florida. After selling their house on Clinton Lane, they bought a piece of land in a newer development with a beautiful view of a pond full of wildlife, palm trees, pine trees and the occasional alligator. They built a house all on one level with a screened in pool. Carol made friends with many women who lived nearby. She joined a book club — The American Association of University Women — played MahJong, and led an active life. Henry chatted with other pilots, helped them repair their planes, and flew his own airplanes at every chance. They loved living in Spruce Creek and had a very long and well deserved retirement. They both read voraciously, something they previously had little time for in Highland Falls.
Carol died with dignity and grace. She was an intellectual and an excellent mother who raised two independent daughters. She half jokingly said, nearing the end of her life, that Henry was calling her. Though not a religious person, there was a part of her that hoped she would see Henry and her parents again. She is greatly missed by her many friends and family.