Retiring Mesnier Secretary Plans Travel and Family Fun

This past week Diane and Dennis Hoffman of Affton celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary at their lake house at Goose Creek in French Village, MO.

“We drove to St. Genevieve and had dinner and then went to our place at the lake,” said Diane Hoffman.

It was a big week for her. After 23 years of working as a secretary at Mesnier Primary School, she announced her retirement from the Affton School District.

Her favorite thing about working at Mesnier is the children, she said.

"The children and the wonderful teachers and staff that I have worked with for so many years..." she said. "I have always felt that I had been blessed."

Three of her grandsons went to Mesnier while she was working there. "That was a lot of fun for Grandma!" she said.

Now she is embarking on her next phase, which will be “day care worker” for her almost 3-year-old grandson Noah.

“We just put up a swing set in the backyard for him,” she said as she was wrapping up her last week working in the office at Mesnier.

Hoffman has three children, a son, Denny and two daughters, Debbie and Denice, all of whom went to Affton and grew up in South St. Louis.

Hoffman attended Roosevelt High School, and her husband Dennis went to rival high school Cleveland High School. She was the eldest of three children of Charlie and Dorothy Senseney, who just passed away in January. Her first job was with The Sporting News.

Dennis was a diamond setter and worked in the jewelry business as owner of Hoffman Jewelers.

“Our son has taken over the business,” she said. “My husband goes in a few days a week, though. It’s now called DEH Jewelers.”

With her husband semi-retired and Diane starting her retirement they have travel in their minds. She has a sister-in-law and brother-in-law who just started a three-month stint in Hawaii with the United Church of Christ denomination.

“They have a three-bedroom house on the ‘Big Island’ and have invited us to go there, so we just might.”

Hoffman has always loved gardening along with fishing and sitting in the great outdoors.

“I love planting and pulling weeds. It’s like therapy for me. I love being outside.”

They go every weekend to their lake house, and now that she has a more flexible schedule she might spend more time there.

“The gals here gave me a retirement party,” she said. “They gave me money to go see the Andy Williams Christmas Show. I’ve always wanted to do that. You think of doing something like that but when someone actually says, here’s the money now go, you will. I’m looking forward to that."

The Affton School District's school board gave all the retirees a dinner at Sam's Steak House and a crystal bowl.

"My husband and I had a great evening!" she said. "On May 25, we had another party at Orlando Garden given by all my friends at Mesnier. My husband, children and grandsons, my sister, my sister-in-law and brothers-in-law all came to help celebrate. We all had a wonderful evening."

And she's looking forward to watching Noah this year.

“I’ll have him three days a week,” she said."He’s the youngest of my grandchildren, who are 13, 12, 11, 4 and almost 3. I’m excited to have those extra two days off, too, so I can do whatever I want."

First stop: the pontoon boat and dock at the lake house with the family for the Fourth of July. All five of the grandsons will be there.

“We’ll all be together and we’ll celebrate my oldest daughter’s 40th birthday," she said.

They find lots of reasons to celebrate in the Hoffman family.