Vincent Joseph Hoffman, a former U.S. missionary who served in South Korea for 15 years, passed away on Jan. 31, at his home in Michigan in the United States. He was 86.

Hoffman served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a Jesuit missionary in Korea from 1955 to 1970. He was ordained as Jesuit priest in 1954 and began serving in war-torn towns in North Chungcheong Province. He was well-known for his work with Hansen’s disease patients, and even founded a local hospital through organizing fundraising events. Hoffman helped poor farmers in Okcheon and Eumseong of North Chungcheong Province learn modern stockbreeding and farming techniques. He also persuaded his family and relatives in the United States to adopt Korean orphans including Hoon-yung Hopgood, who later became a member of the Michigan State Senate.

After he returned to the U.S., Hoffman served as professor for the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University for 35 years and was the founding president of the Council on Korean Studies at the university.

Hoffman is survived by his wife and two children.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Feb. 3 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, Michigan.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)