CHESHIRE — When Shirley Brill returned home a few months ago, she heard her father playing Amazing Grace on his piano for the last time.

Her father, Burke Harvey Hoffman, 81, an organist at several local Masonic lodges and former organist and choir director at All Saints Episcopal Church in Oakville, died Thursday, Sept. 8 at Waterbury Hospital. He was the widower of Helen (Abel) Hoffman.

Hoffman was born Oct. 24, 1923 in Coaldale, Pa., son of the late Silas and Lena May (Dorang) Hoffman. He moved to Cheshire in 1967, attended Watertown schools and graduated from Watertown High School.

After high school, Mr. Hoffman worked as an accountant at the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Co. He later worked at Knudsen Brothers Dairy for 24 years and at Yale University for more than a decade.

After retiring in 1991, Hoffman immersed himself in volunteer activities — teaching reading to prisoners at the Cheshire Correctional Center and continuing his involvement with St. Peter's Episcopal Church and numerous local organizations.

"He never wanted to have a dull moment. Never," said his daughter, Shirley Brill. "He'd say, ' I feel like I'm making a difference and that's all I care about.'"

And throughout the years, he continued to play the piano and organ — passions acquired in childhood, when his parents bought him a Baby Grand.

Hoffman worked as organist and choir director at All Saints Episcopal Church in Oakville and continued working as a substitute organist at the church until recently, his daughter said.

Hoffman also played the organ at meetings for several local Masonic and volunteer organizations, where he was a member.

Brill said she remembers him playing the piano at home throughout her childhood. Around the holidays, Brill's mother would stand by the piano and sing as her father played. Sometimes, the church choir came over to sing as well, she said.

"I'd come home from work when I got older and he'd be playing," she said. "It was like he was in a different world. He was at peace. He was just playing and happy."

And in the last few months, he started playing at home again, Brill said.

"I would walk in the house, and I'd hear some music," she said. "It was just a blessing in the house to hear that music again," she said.

A magnet that conveys this message remains on her refrigerator, she said. It reads: "God gave us music that we might pray without words."

"He loved that saying," Brill said. "He always said this to me. He said, 'This is totally the truth.'"

Hoffman leaves a son, Walter Burke Hoffman of Wallingford; a daughter, Shirley Brill of Cheshire, and two grandsons. His three brothers, Vern, Raymond and Reid Hoffman, and sister, Florence Ruby, are deceased.

Arrangements: Funeral services 11 a.m. Monday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 59 Main St. Burial will be in St. Peter's Cemetery. Calling hours 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Slater Funeral Home, 242 South Main St. Masonic service 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

Contributions: Masonic Learning Center, 529 Highland Ave., Waterbury 06708.

Compiled by Sydney Schwartz