by Helen Brinkman
In the Hoff family, teaching isn’t the only thing that runs in the blood. So does the sentiment embroidered on a family tapestry hand-sewn by Rob Hoff’s maternal grandmother Elsa Sickerdick: ‘Faith without service means nothing.’
It is a motto that Elsa’s grandson Rob Hoff takes to heart. Growing up, Rob witnessed his parents’ faith motivation for service: ‘Mum and Dad were great servants of the church. Their life was based around service to the church and community’, he says. Their influence led Rob to a lifetime of service in education, a lineage tracing back to the 1880s when his immigrant forebear Bernhard Hoff was a school principal at the farming region of Monarto, near Adelaide.
Rob retired in 2019 after 46 years of service as a school principal. His decades of service to primary education, including significant service to many professional associations, was recognised in the Australia Day 2024 Honours List, being named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division.
As a young boy, Rob, now 75, says he was influenced to join the long line of teachers in the family by his great uncle, Pastor Carl Hoff, who had served at Koonibba Mission, 800km west of Adelaide.
‘My brother (Tony – also a teacher) and I would go over there for afternoon tea as young kids. We would look at his books and collection of Aboriginal artefacts (now gifted to the SA Museum) and he would tell us stories. That’s where we got the idea of being teachers, or indeed a pastor.’
As a 16-year-old, Rob’s calling was reinforced by his Pastor Clem Koch who told him: ‘I’ve been watching you, and you’ve got some gifts … I think you should be a teacher.’ ‘That sowed the seed and I fell into teaching’, Rob says.
Rob was raised in Adelaide’s inner-northern suburb of Sefton Park, attending St Paul Lutheran Church, Blair Athol. His dad’s job at the railways provided a fertile opportunity for his parents to share their faith with work colleagues, many of whom were migrants. ‘That is where I witnessed how the social aspects of their lives influenced other people. They let others see Christianity come through in their lives. Every second Saturday we’d have new Australians over for lunch’, Rob recalls. ‘They were so thankful. That wider service in the community is what my brother and I grew up with. It’s just second nature.’
St Paul is where Rob met and married his wife of 52 years, Sandra. They’ve been blessed with two daughters, also Lutheran school leaders, and two grandsons.
In 1973, Rob became the inaugural principal of St Paul Lutheran Primary School, Blair Athol, followed by Trinity Lutheran Primary School in Southport, Queensland, and Immanuel Lutheran Primary School at Novar Gardens, South Australia. Rob is passionate about the role of Lutheran schools in sharing faith. ‘Where else do you get to proclaim the gospel boldly to 40,000 kids and 4,000 staff in communities across Australia, five days a week?’, he asks.
Rob and Sandra’s retirement has continued to provide the unexpected privilege of serving and witnessing in their own community. Moving to an independent living unit at Adelaide’s Fullarton Lutheran Homes in 2020, they discovered an opportunity to serve close to home! ‘We didn’t know what retirement looked like. We were both 70 when we retired, and we thought, “Let’s see where the journey takes us”,’ says Rob. ‘We got involved in the community here, and there was an opportunity to visit elderly residents, whose relatives may live away, and who could be lonely and seeking human contact. We saw that as a natural ministry.
‘It’s easy to walk across the road and say “g’day” and lift their spirits and have a cuppa with them.
‘We should encourage people to keep going. Everybody who is retired, if they chose to serve, our church would be even stronger than it is. There are lots of retired people who are contributing in so many ways we’re not aware of.’
And, he says, it’s all for the gospel and keeps communities going. ‘When I see these people 10 or 15 years older than me who are still so enthusiastic, that is a motivation just to keep going and not to stop’, Rob says. ‘They are all using their skills and talents, adding value to everything going on around this community, our church community, and the wider community.’
For the past 60 years, Rob’s confirmation text, Romans 1:16, has stayed with him: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.’
And, despite his contributions to boards and councils, Rob says: ‘I still think the most important work we do is going across the road to simply connect with people and pray for them.’
