Trenton Hofer, age 24, of Brookings and formerly of Hitchcock, passed away Saturday, February 8, 2020, after a skiing accident near Lead, South Dakota.

His funeral service was held at 10:30 AM, Wednesday, February 12th at Bethesda Church, Huron. Burial will be in the Prairie Bible Church Cemetery, rural Carpenter.

Trenton Ethan Hofer was born October 10, 1995, to Todd and Melanie (Ellis) Hofer at Huron. He grew up on the family farm near Hitchcock. In September 2012, Trent was baptized through the Prairie Bible Church at Lake Byron. Trent became a member of Prairie Bible Church, rural Carpenter at that time. He attended school in Huron and Hitchcock and graduated from Hitchcock-Tulare High School in 2014. He continued his education at SDSU, graduating from there in 2018 with a degree in Ag-Business.

Trent’s continued desires were to learn scripture and sharing the Gospel through evangelism and discipling others. Having this desire, he was mentored by Pastor Gavin Retzer of the First Baptist Church in Brookings where he also became a member. He was enjoying studying through the Timothy Pastoral Apprenticeship and was excited to be learning Hebrew and Greek. He also worked in construction and refereed lower levels of basketball along with playing on numerous intermural teams.

He loved the role as counselor at Byron Bible Camp near Huron directed by Jon Duba and continued that love by helping lead in Equip Campus Ministries under Luke Perkins at Brookings. His soul’s desire was to be in ministry and to lead people to the Lord. He also helped with the family cattle and farming operation. Trent loved keeping track of his siblings and their activities and was always intentional about staying in touch.

He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Rev. Doyle Ellis who had a great impact on his spiritual life and shaped his call to ministry.

Grateful for having shared in his life are his parents, Todd and Melanie Hofer of Hitchcock; five siblings, Travis (Leah) Hofer and their son, Barrett, all of Hitchcock, Morgan Hofer of Warrenton, Missouri, Trevor Hofer of Hitchcock, Ty Hofer of Hitchcock and Madison Hofer of Hitchcock. He is also survived by paternal grandparents, Eldon E. and Alie Hofer of Hitchcock, maternal grandmother, Eva Ellis of Claremont, South Dakota; his aunts and uncles, Helene (Brad) Wedel of Yale, Shari (Mark) Steinheuser of Tulare, Kenneth (Jodi) Hofer of Hitchcock, JoEllen (Tom) Salmen of Tulare, Darinda (Lars) Tunby of Houghton, South Dakota, Laronda (Mark) Becker of Waterloo, Iowa and Lonnie Ellis of Houghton, South Dakota; his cousins, Andrea (Bret) Larson, Jessica (Derrick) Bulthuis, Sarah (Zach) Schweinsberg, Nathan (Anna) Wedel, Emily Wedel, Lance Steinheuser, Scott (Jaclyn) Steinheuser, Shaylyn (Clint) Stout, Brittani Hofer (Jose Tepexpa), Chelsea Hofer, McKenzie Hofer, Kolby Hofer, Jeremy Hofer, Elizabeth Salmen, Thomas John Salmen, Erik Salmen, Matthew Salmen, Neil Salmen, Chantel (Orrin) Hughes, Shawna (Ryan) Hagy, Krista (Moses) Geiger, Dawson Tunby, Sierra Tunby, Genae Becker and Daniel Becker; and his girlfriend, Katelyn Duba of Huron.

His memory will be cherished by all of them and the hundreds of extended family and friends he made along his brief journey of life.