It was September 1948, and William “Bill” Von Hoff clung to a power line pole forty feet in the air. There he spoke the simple words that ignited within him a lifetime of service to Jesus.
New Life and Beginnings
Navy-man-turned-electric-company-lineman Bill considered the change he’d seen in his beautiful wife, Lee. Little did Bill know, the day prior, his mother’s witness of the Gospel struck a chord deep within Lee’s heart. Kneeling in the sight of God alone, Lee gave her life to the Lord with a simple prayer. When Bill got home that night, he noticed a difference in her countenance. Lee shared the simple truth of her newly surrendered heart. Bill liked what he heard. The next day, Bill prayed his own simple prayer.
“God, if You can hear me,” Bill prayed, “we haven’t talked much, but I want what my wife has.” And that’s how Bill Von Hoff became a Christian at 22 years old, forty feet in the air.
Bill’s heart began to change. Soon the Holy Spirit began to speak to him about giving up smoking. He couldn’t quit on his own. “Lord,” Bill prayed, “I’m asking you that the next cigarette I smoke makes me sick.” The next cigarette Bill tried made him throw up. His cigarette addiction had been broken!
Another miracle followed as an icy winter storm blew across Batavia, Illinois. When the power was knocked out, every lineman at the power company was called in. Jan 1, 1950, Bill hung on a power pole once more, 50 hours into a shift that seemed to have no end. On a nearby pole, a drowsy coworker crossed some wires. Suddenly, Bill saw a huge FLASH as a spark erupted in front of him. Miraculously, Bill wasn’t shocked or blinded, and he knew God saved his life.
College Bound, Kids in Tow
Soon after, Bill and Lee felt a call into ministry, and the Von Hoff family packed up their belongings in their small mint green ’49 Crosley, moving to Los Angeles, where Bill and Lee would attend LIFE Bible College. The Von Hoffs had small children when they began their college journey. So, when Bill and Lee’s classes started in February 1950, Allan (5 yrs), Steve (2 yrs), and Gordon (1 yr), came to school with mom and dad, seated in the classroom near “Uncles” like Don Pickerill and Don McGregor.
During the years they attended LIFE Bible College, Bill worked at a donut shop, where the opening shift sometimes started as early as 3:30am. One morning, while he and a coworker prepared the day’s donuts in morning prep, Bill’s hand slipped, and his arm plunged elbow deep into the boiling pot of grease. He jerked it back out, hoping he didn’t have to visit the emergency room. When Bill examined his arm, he saw that, though red and irritated, it wasn’t burned severely. Bill knew it was a divine miracle, illustrating how God takes care of His kids.
The rest of Bill and Lee’s time at Life Bible College was rich and full, and after 4 years of hard work, the couple graduated together in 1954, with Lee at the top of the class as Valedictorian.
On the Road Again
After graduating from LIFE Bible College, the Von Hoffs moved their family to Vincennes, Indiana, where they bought a house so they could pioneer a Foursquare church. They were later able to purchase a local church building with a parsonage. After about 5 years there, Bill and Lee took a position at a church in Joliet, Illinois, where they stayed for 3 years.
In the 1960s, Bill and his bride moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with the intent of learning Spanish in preparation for missionary work in Central America. They soon relocated to Los Angeles, where The Foursquare Church had a furlough home, a resting and deployment stop for Foursquare missionaries.
A week after their oldest son Allan turned 18, Bill and Lee packed up their two younger boys and moved to Ecuador to live and serve as missionaries, leaving behind eldest son Allan to attend LIFE Bible College in Los Angeles.
A Family On Mission
Bill and Lee would also go on to live and serve in Chile in the mid 1960’s. One year when both Steve and Allan were attending LIFE Bible College and the rest of the family was on the mission field, Lee put together a Christmas card with a map of their locations, representing their family being “on mission” together, even if separated by distance.
After ministering some time in Chile, Bill and Lee traveled to Honduras, where they joined another Foursquare missionary serving young children in an orphanage.
Eventually Bill and Lee would return to the U.S., taking a pastorate at a Foursquare church in Blythe, CA. for a couple of years, before pastoring another church in North Little Rock, AR. for a couple more years. It was around this time that Bill and Lee sensed their season of full-time ministry was coming to a close. They moved to Albuquerque, NM, and started serving at the local Foursquare church – this time as assisting ministers.
The Journey’s End
While in Albuquerque, Bill and Lee served for one year at a local mission, where Bill held monthly services and Lee lovingly knitted hundreds of caps and scarves that would go to homeless people at the mission.
Eventually, Lee preceded Bill to heaven in 2020, and Bill moved in with son Steve, who lived outside of Albuquerque. Bill’s last home was the Ambrosio Guillen Texas State Veterans Home in El Paso, TX, where a celebration was planned for Bill’s 100th birthday, which would have occurred on March 19, 2026. However, in the days leading up to the completion of this article, William Von Hoff followed his beloved Lee to heaven on the morning of Mar 4, 2026.
In every photo and story of this humble man’s life, his smile wore not the toil of years, but the Joy of Jesus. And that is a lesson in itself.
By Melissa Rufener ’12
**If you know an LPU alumnus with a legacy story or a milestone birthday, please contact us at alumni@lifepacific.edu. We love to honor our alumni!
