By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor
It’s said that if you need someone to get a job done, you need to call the busiest person you can find.
Dixie Hoffman of Thedford, Neb., fits that bill. Experienced in several important arenas, the Sandhills rancher is indispensable to her family operation.
Hoffman was ranch-raised at Livingston, Mont., the fifth generation on an Angus and Hereford seedstock operation. Country school and 4-H occupied her childhood.
Pursuing a business degree, she graduated from Eastern Montana College and later earned a master’s in business administration from Montana State University. She taught a total of 34 years, between high school in Montana, college at Spokane Falls Community and high school in California.
By the time she’d accepted the Spokane position, the computer age had arrived. Taking new technology in stride, Hoffman added computer instruction to her schedule. She became so competent that it led to a job as a trainer for Microsoft Office in California.
She’s has been married to Denny Hoffman for 30 years. In 2008, a decision was made to move their Hereford operation lock, stock and barrel to Nebraska. It was an enormous undertaking.
By 2009, the family was settled in at Hoffman Ranch near Thedford. Hoffman is in charge of all Hereford and Angus registrations and transfers. She keeps track of DNA tests, performance data and puts together catalogs for three sales per year, clerking their two live bull sales.
Outside the ranch, she loves to spend time with their grandchildren. They are involved in cattle shows and sports, with older grandkids living out-of-state and in the military.
Community activities are important to her family. Hoffman is on the local school board, a member of the Thedford Community Foundation and American Legion Auxiliary. She plays piano at the Sandhills Community Church in Dunning.
Proud of her family, she says that, when they lived in California, she and Denny had fulltime jobs along with ranching.
”It was tough to make ends meet,” she recalls. She credits their son, Jason, and her daughter-in-law, Kaycee, with being vital assets to the ranch. “I have the best daughter-in-law you can find!” Hoffman declares. “She does all the finances for the ranch.” She and Hoffman work in tandem, a testament to teamwork.
Her final thought is to work hard and persevere. Seeing her grandchildren’s values gives her hope for the future, and she can’t think of a better place to raise a family than Thedford.
