McKinley choir director passes the baton

By Lisa Reicosky

CANTON, OH — Standing on the stage at Umstattd Hall on Friday
night, McKinley choir director Kirk Hofmeister expected to see a
handful of his former students join him and his seniors for a
traditional final song in which they are asked to participate.

Following his bows after the first of two final Spring Shows,
the retiring teacher looked out to the audience and watched
incredulously as a steady stream of people proceeded down the
aisles from the balcony and took to the risers.

When he raised his baton, the voices of more than 70 alumni
filled the hall.

“I was just amazed,” said Hofmeister. “It was like taking the
best kids of 15 years or more. It was incredible.”

As part of the retirement celebration, his three children,
Amanda Upp, 28, Molly Hofmeister, 23, and Greg Hofmeister, 16, a
sophomore in the choir, sang a modified version of “So Long,
Farewell,” from The Sound of Music, to which he listened as he held
his granddaughter Mackenzie, 4.

Watching his children perform in his musicals, he said, are some
of his best memories.

Known as “Hof” to his students, Hofmeister spent 23 of his
35-year career with Canton City Schools, the last 15 at McKinley.
It’s a place where he had a profound influence on countless
students.

“He was a father-figure to a lot of us,” said Racquel Dillard, a
1999 graduate who sang Friday along with her husband Mark, a 1998
graduate. “He would take the time to talk about our problems. He
was more than a teacher and that was important to us single-parent
kids.”