Joseph "Joe" F. Hofer, age 91, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family in Butte. His resilience and perseverance were something that he was known for, and in typical Joe fashion, he saw it through to the very end.

Joe was born on November 15, 1932, to Franz and Rosa Pichlhofer in Vorau, Austria. He grew to be a nomad of sorts; leaving Austria in his early 20's to travel to Canada to work in the mines.  In Canada he met his life-long best friend Leo Hohmann. Leo and Joe traveled to Tahiti to be instructors at a new mine.  Working in the mining industry  througout the West eventually led them to Butte, Montana, where he met and married Margarete Staschel-Krzan in October 1968.

Their marriage gifted him a built-in family with Margarete's five children, Annegret, MaryAnn, Stanley, Danny, and Ala Krzan. Together, they had Margie - born in 1969.

In 1971, Joe changed occupations and started his life career in construction and found his niche. He had the ability to fix anything and everything. Joe could rig anything back together. He was intrigued to find how things worked and loved finding how to make them better. Those same abilities carried through to each member of his family; dedicated and always available to help make their lives better.

Joseph is preceded in death by his parents, brother Franz Joseph Pichlhofer, Great-Grandson Tayson Halvorsen; Sister-in-law's and Brother-in-law's, Martha Reinders, Else Pansuk, Karl and Edelgard Krzan, Rose and Howard Peck; Paul and Gerda Staschel, Edward Krzan, Charles Staschel, and his best friends Leo and Hildegard Hohmann.

He is survived by his wife, Margarete, his children, Margie (Bob) Woods, Annegret (Buck) Shea, MaryAnn (Dave) Lopez, Stan Krzan, Dan Krzan, and Ala Krzan. His grandchildren, Zach (Kate) Woods, Mason (Dani) Woods, Evan (Jamie) Woods, Ryan (Lisa) Shea, Kevin (Britany) Shea, Michelle (Russ) Rintala, Monica (Wayne) Lopez, Chris Krzan, Breanne (Trevor) Price, Samantha (Evan) Krzan, Kasey Krzan, Eric (Bryann) Halvorsen, Levi (Mary) Halvorsen and 22 Great-Grandchildren. His Sister-in-law Brigitte Lamiaux, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family of Joseph Hofer would like to thank Dr. Shawna Yates for her care and support over the years. We would also like to thank Heather, Molly, Shanda, and the rest of the crew at Honeybee Hospice for their comfort care and assistance.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Duggan Dolan Mortuary, 1805 Meadowlark in Butte.  Visitation will start at 10:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to charity of donors choice.

"Gone from our sight, but never from our hearts."