William E. "Bill" Hoke
Obituaries
Daily Sentinal page 5C - February 13, 2022
William
“Bill” Hoke
May 30, 1939 - January 31, 2022
William “Bill” E. Hoke,
of Collbran, CO, flew with
the Angels to be with his
Heavenly Father January
31, 2022, at Community
Hospital while surrounded
by his family and his
loving wife.
Bill was born May 30, 1939, in Evansville, Indiana.
He moved to Collbran, CO, when he was six years old
to his step-father’s ranch on Grove Creek. He attended
Little Creek School and Collbran Union High School.
Bill joined the Marine Corp. February 13, 1958. After
boot camp he was sent to Cuba due to the rising tensions
between Castro and the U.S. He was then stationed at El
Toro Marine Corp. Air Base.
Shortly after, he went home on leave and met his wife,
Velda. They met on the fourth of July at the Collbran
Auditorium, and married four weeks later on August
6, at El Toro Marine Base in Santa Ana, CA. They
welcomed their first child, a son, in 1961, and their
second child, a daughter in 1962.
Bill served two tours in Vietnam - with the Marine
Corp. in 1966, and the Army in 1969. Between 1962 and
1966 he was an instructor at the Marine Corp. Mountain
Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC). The latter
half of 1966 Bill was injured during a routine patrol
in Vietnam, when he fell into a Punji trap and took a
wooden spike to the right leg. He was hospitalized for a
short time. Bill went back to being an instructor at the
MCMWTC when he received his honorable discharge
from the Marine Corp. He worked in a copper mine in
Yerington, NV, for a short time. Bill missed being in the
Military so much that he joined the Army on September
30, 1967. He was sent back to Vietnam where he was
severely wounded on April 17, 1969.
Bill never bragged or boasted, but, he received:
Good Conduct Vietnam Service Medal, Pistol Expert
Badge, Rifle Marksmanship, National Defense Service
Medal, and a Purple Heart from the Marine Corp.
He received: Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart,
Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars
Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Badge with Rifle
Bar (M-14) from the Army. The Military retired him in
November, 1969. He moved home to Collbran in 1971.
He went to saddle making school in South Dakota and
started making saddles with Bob Klenda. The ladybug
was his trademark stamp. He was also active in the
D.A.V. and worked his way up to State Commander
for a year. He moved to Callao, MO, in 2005, where he
was a very active member of Callao Christian Church,
working his way up to Elder. He moved back home to
Collbran, in 2019. Church, reading, fishing, hunting and
his family were some of his favorite things.
Bill is survived by his wife, Velda; son, Shane
(Debbie) Hoke; daughter, Stacy (Jeff) Christensen;
grandkids, Brandi, Jeffrey, Chance, Dusty, Cody, Ory,
Krystina (Krys), and Tabitha; 17 great-grandkids, and
one great-great-grandson.
He is preceded in death by his dad, Willard Hoke;
mom, Norma Jean Hoke; sister, Sherri Hoke, and
brother, Jim Hoke.
A committal service with honors for William will be
Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., at Veteran’s
Cemetery of Western Colorado, 2830 Riverside
Parkway, Grand Junction, Colorado 81505.
William will be laid to rest in Veteran’s Memorial
Cemetery of Western Colorado.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may
be shared at www.callahan-edfast.com for the Hoke
famil
