Margaret Ann Hoffman (nee Taliaferro) passed away on Friday, November 1, 2024, at the age of 92, at Samaritan Hospice, Mount Holly, New Jersey.
Margaret was born on July 15, 1932, in Hockley, Virginia. She was the third of eight children born to John and Mozelle Taliaferro. At school she participated in the choir, drama club, and other activities. She sang in the choir at First Baptist Church Hockley, where she accepted Christ as her personal savior and was baptized at an early age. She remained actively involved with her home church her entire life, even after moving away, through the Hockley Progressive Club of Philadelphia. After graduating from Plainview High School, Margaret moved to Philadelphia where she began her professional career by sewing and tailoring in various workshops in the city. Always involved in music, she attended Mutchmore Memorial Baptist Church where she sang in the choir.
A close cousin of Margaret, Alven Taliaferro, lived next door to John Hoffman’s sister, Jean (William) Porter. When John came to visit his sister, Alven introduced Margaret to the man who would become the love of her life, John Hoffman. They married on November 2, 1963, and celebrated 47 years of marriage before John’s passing on December 22, 2010. If you knew them, you knew that John was rather reserved and that Margaret made up for him, and then some! John and Margaret moved to Edgewater Park, NJ, in 1963 where they raised their daughters, Felicia and Karla, and where Margaret lived until 2023, when her health necessitated a move at age 90.
Margaret Ann loved to travel! From humble, but loving, beginnings, she ultimately traveled to six of the seven continents, declaring “The penguins can have Antarctica.” She traveled with John, but also with sister Estelle, other family & friends, and multiple times with sisters-in-law Mary (George) and Maude (John). Margaret owned her own business as a dressmaker and received many accolades for her impeccable design sense, formidable fashions, and unrivaled craftsmanship. She designed and crafted dresses and gowns to celebrate special occasions for innumerable clients over the years. “If you don’t like my work, tell me. If you like it, tell others.”
She was a member of the Hockley Progressive Club, Burlington Lanes Bowling League, Burlington County Garden Club, the First Baptist Church (Willingboro) Choir, Vacation Bible School staff, and a faithful supporter of the United Negro College Fund and the American Red Cross. After retiring, Margaret was involved with the Ms. New Jersey Senior America Pageant, placing as first runner up. She loved the visual arts, the theater, and classical music, but she especially loved opera; Tosca, by Puccini, was a favorite. She played piano and was largely self-taught. She attended concerts in Philadelphia, New York, and many at the local elementary school where she supported her children, and then her grandchildren, in all of their musical pursuits with a genuine smile on her face.
Margaret was known for her wisdom, her sense of humor, love of Jesus Christ, optimistic spirit, unwavering determination, and love and support for her family, friends and community. Along with her husband, she was a devoted member of First Baptist Church, Willingboro, where they both served in various ministries.
Margaret is preceded in joining the Lord by her husband John, as well as her mother and father, John Richard (Sr.) and Mozelle Taliaferro; her sisters: Estelle Taliaferro and Lenora Small (Robert); her brothers: James Alfred Taliaferro, John R. Taliaferro, Jr. (Maudestein), Ellis Taliaferro, Sr., George Taliaferro, and Ivory Taliaferro, Sr. (Nora).
She is survived by her sisters Gloria Lumford of Irvington, NJ and Plunard Robinson (Mason) of Hockley, VA; sisters-in-law, Mary Taliaferro (George) of Burlington, NJ and Aimee Taliaferro (Ellis, Sr.) of Greensboro, NC; her daughters Felicia and Karla Hoffman; grandchildren Craig Anthony, Mozelle, and Isaac Cleveland, and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
If you wish, in lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a memorial donation in Margaret’s name to the United Negro College Fund or the American Red Cross.
