Obituary of Donald Shaw Hoeft

Don Hoeft, age 88 Don passed away at Devoted Care Hospice in Bloomfield Hills, MI from cancer on Saturday, February 23. Don was born on Long Island, NY and graduated from Sewanaka High School in 1948, General Motors Institute (Kettering University) in 1950, and Utah State University in 1953. He served in the Marines from 1953 to 1955 and returned to marry his sweetheart Carol Jean Olschewski on Long Island in Bellrose, NY in 1957. He obtained a Masters in Business and graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1960. At 66", Don was an excellent athlete. He was captain of the lacrosse team in high school, accepted a full scholarship to Utah State University to play football, and was selected to play volleyball for the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejune in North Carolina. Like his father who started with a New York Cadillac Distributor in 1920, Don had a passion for cars and spent his entire career in the Export Division of General Motors. Highlights of his 37 year career with General Motors included a seven year assignment in the Caribbean where he lived with his family in Puerto Rico for 7 years as well as travel to 44 countries in Central and South America, Europe, and Asia. Don met many influential leaders from around the world and later spent much of his retirement sharing stories about his travels. After his retirement from GM, he was a tour guide at Cranbrook House, President of the Leyland Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians in Michigan, and board member for the library and archives at GM Institute in Flint. Don made regular presentations to the Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills Senior Mens Club (Breakfast Club), Rotary International Club of Bloomfield Hills, and Kirk in the Hills Mens club and various General Motors groups regarding his travels and experiences visiting the 44 countries. Don loved his family and they were the most important priority in his life. He was married to Carol for 58 years until she died of cancer in 2015. Don also had a passion for meeting new people and sharing stories about his life. Anyone that met Don will always remember him for the trivia questions he enjoyed asking friends as well as random strangers. He always wanted to be engaged in activities to sharpen his mind and meet new people. One of Dons most proud accomplishments was the article he wrote for the Cadillac & LaSalle Club in The Self Starter magazine titled "Long Career: The Hoeft familys adventures with GM from 1919 to 1992". After the article was published in July 2018, Don was contacted by people all over the world with questions and comments. Don later wrote a follow up article "A Cadillac Family History - Part II" and was hoping to have that one published before he passed away. Don is survived by his children Charles Hoeft and Tracy Dudley, and his grandchildren Sierra and Dakota Dudley. A memorial service will be held in the late spring/early summer at Calvary Chapel in Troy, Michigan.