Russell Stratton "Russ" Hoff, Jr.

HOFF, Russell Stratton Jr, “Russ,” age 96, slipped the bonds of Earth on Saturday, December 19, 2020. Born on May 19, 1924, in Schenectady, New York, Russ spent much of his childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father worked at WLWT during the early days of television. Russ graduated from Hughes High School in 1942.

A proud World War II veteran, Russ enlisted in the U.S. Naval Air Corps in 1942 and served as an Aviation Machinist’s Mate First Class on a PB4Y-2 maritime patrol bomber in the South Pacific. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

On returning from the war, Russ met Lorlee Harvey on a blind date and they were married in August 1950. Following Russ’s graduation from the University of Cincinnati in 1951 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, the couple moved to Dayton, where Russ took a job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. His early positions involved detailed flight engineering and his later years were with management operations. Russ retired from Wright-Patt in 1985 after 40 years of federal service. Russ and Lorlee welcomed their son, Ross, in 1953 and in 1954 moved into a newly-built home in the growing suburb of Kettering, Ohio, where they lived for 66 years before moving in August 2020 to the 10 Wilmington Place Retirement Community in Dayton.

An inveterate traveler, in 1946 Russ refurbished a 1929 Model A Ford and headed out on an extensive solo driving tour of the northern U.S. and Canada. He later enjoyed long driving and camping trips with his family throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. After retirement, his travels with family and friends expanded to worldwide destinations including the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, the Amazon, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Maasai Mara, the Galapagos Islands, and Greece. He re-experienced those travels daily with floor-to-ceiling photos in their home.

Russ and Lorlee frequently traveled to Washington DC to visit with Ross, “second son” Alex, and many other friends, and to celebrate special occasions such as the dedication of the World War II Memorial. After retirement, Russ also enjoyed climbing and felling (and rarely falling from) trees, the logs from which he would cut and split to feed the house’s wood-burning stove. For several years, he and Lorlee operated a mail marketing operation for the Diet Workshop.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Russ was also an avid stamp collector. In the evenings, he enjoyed watching movies at home with Lorlee surrounded by their “fabulous feline family” of adopted stray cats. A Nielsen family for several years, Russ and Lorlee were proud of the impact their viewing habits may have had on increasing the production of action and science fiction films. An advocate of the power of science and convinced that we are not alone in the universe, Russ was an avid supporter of space exploration and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Russ was preceded in death by his parents Russell S. Hoff Sr. and Pearl R. Harbison and by his sister Jeannette Pressler. He is survived by Lorlee, his wife of 70 years; son Ross Harbison Hoff; brother Raymond Hoff; niece Susan (Don) Upcraft; nephew Frederick Treesh; and numerous cousins and friends. Russ will be inurned at Arlington National Cemetery at a future date. In his memory, friends are encouraged to make a donation to the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (sicsa.org), the Planetary Society (planetary.org), the SETI Institute (seti.org), or other charity of their choice.