Hero Down: Michigan State Police Trooper Raymond Hoffman Dies After Illness
Michigan State Police Trooper Raymond Hoffman EOW 09/26/2017.
Trooper Raymond Hoffman Dies
Wayland, MI – Michigan State Police Trooper Raymond Hoffman, age 46, died on Tuesday, September 26, after a long illness.
Trooper Hoffman was hospitalized in March with heart complications, and remained hospitalized until he died, according to Fox17. He had a heart attack six years ago, and had beaten Hodgkin’s lymphoma on two separate occasions.
Kent County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Wiersma first met Trooper Hoffman twenty years ago when he was in the state police Explorer Program.
He said, “Ray was very instrumental in my life. At a young age, I was 16 and I joined the Michigan State Police Explorer Program when I was in high school. Ray was one of my advisers.”
Deputy Wiersma has been a K9 officer with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department for four years, and said he wouldn’t be where he was now without Trooper Hoffman.
Trooper Hoffman was assigned to the Wayland Post, and had served there for more than 20 years. He served as a MSP trooper for 24 years.
Deputy Wiersma said “He’s going to be very, very missed by the people in Allegan County where he worked”. He carries something that Trooper Hoffman gave him years ago every day.
He said, “Before I left, Ray gave me something that I still have now. It’s a card that he laminated; it has a picture of him on it, and on the back it reads ‘Jason, hope you look at this ugly mug and laugh yourself into a better day. Remember: that which does not kill us only serves to make us stronger. Hang in there. -Ray.’ And I still keep it with me in my pocket now.”
Barry County Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt said that Trooper Hoffman “was dedicated to children”, according to MichiganLive. She said that he was instrumental in changing and improving the investigation of abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse of children in Michigan.
“He along with a team of others drafted Michigan’s model protocols for these types of investigations. He also helped train hundreds of people in the use of the protocols. I had the honor of working with Ray on many cases. You will not meet a more fierce advocate for crime victims.”
Trooper Hoffman is survived by his wife and three children.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Michigan State Police Trooper Raymond Hoffman, both blood and blue. Godspeed, sir, we will take the watch from here. Thank you for your service.
