She started lessons right away. Eventually she made the instrument her profession, playing in orchestras and teaching hundreds of budding musicians along the way. The retiree continues to spread her love of the violin by playing hymns by phone to members of Shiloh Church, United Church of Christ who are no longer able to attend services.
Hofstetter calls about a dozen people each Sunday, giving them each about 20 minutes of music and conversation. She chats with them about their week and plays two or three hymns.
“I know that some of them just wait for me to call on Sunday,” she said.
When the Covid-19 pandemic temporarily stopped the church from holding in-person services, Hofstetter thought about what she could do to help. That’s when her weekly calls began – and they continue now, long after services began to meet in person again.
Jeanette Patton nominated her friend as a Dayton Daily News Community Gem, praising the accomplished musician for her good deeds. The fellow member of Shiloh Church UCC knows that those on the receiving end of Hofstetter’s calls look forward to them every week and that her outreach lifts their spirits.
“She brings joy to so many people with her violin playing,” said Patton, of Huber Heights.
Hofstetter exemplifies the church’s mission of “living the word by serving the world” with her musical ability, said Rev. Jay McMillen of the northwest Dayton church. She is a consistent reminder to others to share their gifts and talents and to make them a part of their everyday lives.
“She’s a high-spirited, warmhearted, caring individual who thinks more about others, which I just love,” he said.
Hofstetter grew up in Greenville and earned a degree in performance from Miami University. She was a strings teacher in Fairborn for a couple of years before teaching at Dayton Public Schools for 25 years. She taught strings at several elementary schools during that time, as well as at what is now Stivers School for the Arts.
As she raised her family, she turned to private teaching. Including the decade or so that she spent two days each week teaching the violin out of her living room, Hofstetter estimates that she’s taught the violin to hundreds of students. She also played in the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and, after she retired, the Middletown Symphony Orchestra.
Today she mostly confines herself to playing via her phone calls and sometimes at services at Shiloh Church UCC, where she also is a deacon and long-time member.
As Hofstetter introduced the violin to her students year after year, she also tried to instill in them the importance of sharing music, of playing their instrument in places beyond the practice room. Even still, she encourages others to find their passion, and then pursue and share it.
“It brings me joy, and I in turn bring other people joy,” she said.
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