Ankeny Teacher, Coach Remembered as Fun, Focused and Compassionate

Those who knew Dennis Hoefle knew he was a man of many attributes, all of which helped him have an affect on the lives of others.

Hundreds of people packed into Tuesday for Hoefle’s funeral services. Hoefle died Thursday after having suffered a sudden brain aneurism on Wednesday.

“His life was a bit of a paradox — he was fun but focused, competitive but compassionate,” said Pastor Scott Rains of Lutheran Church of Hope. “But you have to talk about all these things at the same time to understand who he was as a person.”

Hoefle was a sixth-grade social studies teacher at . He also was the head coach for the Ankeny boys' tennis team.

Hoefle was an graduate who student-taught in Ankeny and later joined the faculty in 1995. He taught at both the elementary and middle school levels, and served as a coach in a number of capacities since 1996.

He is survived by his wife, Val, and their two children, Brody and Callen.

Prior to Hoefle’s funeral, at Prairie Ridge Middle School for a candlelight vigil.

At the start of Tuesday’s services, the Ankeny tennis teams filed in ahead of Hoefle’s family. Boys wore maroon and gold T-shirts, the words “Always With Us” on the back.

During his address, Rains said Hoefle was the kind of person who made the most of life.

“He didn’t take life too seriously,” Rains said. “He wanted to make sure everyone was having fun in life and had the focus to make the most out of life and relationships.”

Hoefle was competitive, and was also very focused when it came to the things he loved, especially when it came to his family, the Iowa Hawkeyes and his favorite soap opera, “Days of Our Lives.”

Rains said Hoefle had the ability to care about the lives of everyone around him, always making sure to set aside time to listen to others when they needed support. 

“I know I, and everyone else in this room, will be eternally grateful for the gift we had in Dennis Hoefle,” Rains said.

Tyler Hellman, a 2006 Ankeny graduate, shared his memories of Hoefle on an earlier story published on Ankeny Patch. Hellman said Hoefle was his tennis coach in high school and despite the fact he’d never picked up a racket in his life, Hoefle took the time to help him learn the rules and teach Hellman how to play the game.

Hellman coached junior varsity tennis in Marshalltown last year and said he last saw Hoefle at the state tennis tournament.

“I will never forget the look on his face when he heard me introduce myself in the jammed pack clubhouse, not knowing I was in there,” Hellman said. “I was proud to say that I played tennis at Ankeny.” 

This spring, Hellman will coach tennis at in West Des Moines.

“Although I am not going to be able to coach against him, I will be able to share the things that I was taught, and help continue the legacy he left behind,” Hellman said.