Mae Ruth Hoch

HOCH Mae Ruth Hoch, (nee Jensen), passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving children and grandchildren on January 18th, 2023. She was 90 years old. Mae was born and raised in Philadelphia. She graduated from Simon Gratz High School in 1950 as a member of the National Honor Society. She worked at Technical Services Corporation, Keystone Automobile Club (AAA), and Greenspan Lighting before becoming a homemaker and Mom. She met her husband of nearly 68 years, Joseph Howard Hoch, when she was 15. She started writing to him while he was in the Navy, and they were married on Valentine’s Day, 1953. Together, Mae and Howard were blessed with 8 children. Mae was an industrious homemaker taking in sewing and baking custom cakes to supplement the family income. A talented seamstress with an eye for style, Mae sewed clothing for herself and her children, even formal wear for her children’s proms and weddings. Mae was a woman of devout faith and had a servant’s heart. She played an active role in St. Joachim’s Parish, participating in the PTA, fundraising, Eucharistic Ministry, CCD, lectoring, Pre Cana, and Marriage Encounter, and as a den mother for Boy Scout Troop 378. She established the family business, Howard’s Caterers, along with her husband, in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, in 1970. They grew Howard’s Caterers from a single lunch truck into a thriving catering business, beginning with all off-premises locations until establishing a home base at the Eddington Room in Bensalem, PA. While Howard wooed the clients and ran the kitchen, Mae directed all the day-to-day business operations. Mae never shied away from a challenge. When the catering hall opened, Mae learned how to make elaborate wedding cakes to include in the client package. When computers became available in the early 1980s, she took night classes and learned how to automate the bookkeeping and payroll for the business. Mae and Howard considered catering events on the yacht Imperatore for APA Transportation Corporation as their pinnacle of professional achievement. Mae was preceded in death by her beloved husband Howard, son Joseph, and grandson Bryan. Mae is survived by her sister Joan (Cunningham) and her children: Stephen (Susan), Michael (Rochelle), Beth Anne (Robert Nice), Regina (Jim Stevenson), Mary (Moreton), Joan (Paul Kinniry), and Susanne (Matthew Bentley). Mae is also survived by her grandchildren: Christopher, Jennifer, Joann, Michael, Jessica, Larissa, Michelle, Andrew, Harrison, and Daniel, her great-grandchildren: Steven, Nox, Brayden, Juliette, Logan, Kyana, Armando Jr., Mae, and great great- grandchild: McKenna. Mae will always be remembered by all who knew and loved her as an Amazing Woman. Services will be held at St. Joachim’s Church on February 4, 2023. A visitation with the family will begin at 9:00 am followed by a funeral mass at 10:00 am. Interment will be family only. In lieu of flowers, offer an act of service in honor of Mae, or spend quality time with your family.