Hilde Hobbs

On May 9, 2024 Hilde L. Hobbs passed away at the age of 94. One of her last requests was to not have an obituary but her children want you to know how amazing their mother was and to briefly share the life of a not so ordinary woman with all who knew and loved her. She may be physically gone but she will never be forgotten in our hearts. Hilde L. Hinterleitner was born in Carlstatd, NJ on June 4, 1929 and grew up in New York City during the Great Depression. She had many stories to tell about riding the subway with her brother all over the city when they were only grade school age, watching the Brooklyn Dodgers play (she still hadn't forgiven them for moving!), and riding their bikes out to La Guardia airport to watch the planes come and go. After high school graduation, Hilde attended East Stroudsburg State Teachers College in eastern Pennsylvania. She lived on a farm owned by her professor in the rural Pocono Mountains where she learned to drive a tractor and milk cows. A far cry from the hustle and bustle of the streets of New York! It was at college that she met her future husband, Howard Hobbs, and right after graduation they were married. There were several moves along the way enabling them both to advance their careers: Stroudsburg, PA, St. Thomas, USVI, Oswego, NY, and finally to Fort Collins, CO. Their marriage produced three amazing children, and Howard and Hilde were wonderful parents, but in 1974 they divorced and that is when Hilde really became the incredible, fearless woman so many people have come to love and admire. At age 50 she left her position as the Adult Librarian at the Fort Collins Public Library to join the Peace Corps and was stationed initially on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia then later on to Montserrat. While in the Peace Corps she made many life-long friends and began her overseas traveling adventures. After returning from the Peace Corps she moved to Laramie, WY where she was a librarian at the University of Wyoming. By 1984 Hilde was ready for travel again so she took a position as a Media Librarian at the King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for two years which again allowed her to expand her traveling spirit of expeditions to Africa and Europe. Upon her return to Fort Collins she then worked for the PVH Occupational Therapy Work Center. After retirement Hilde spent three months island hopping and working around Greece then returned home to Fort Collins to enjoy her family and to attend the many activities and sporting events her grandchildren were involved in. Hilde held many job titles during her long life: soda jerk, farm hand, teacher, secretary, librarian, Peace Corps Volunteer, media specialist, wife, and mother. But her most cherished title was being a grand- and great-grandmother. Her parents, William and Marga Hinterleitner, as well as her brother William and sister-in-law Dorothy Hinterleitner, predeceased her. She is survived by her daughter Amy, son Michael (Pam Turner), and daughter Jessie Benshoof (Jim), her three grandchildren Tara Hobbs (Wil Turner), Mitch Benshoof (Nicole), Lauren Descovich (Tom) and three great-grandchildren Laila, Clara, and Callen. As per her request, there will be no service. Cremation has taken place, and her ashes will be dispersed at a family gathering at a later date.