Trail Moments | A Place of Healing: The Mary Hofer Walking Trail
Take a stroll along Wisconsin’s Mary Hofer Walking Trail with the crunch of its crushed stone beneath your feet and the northern woodlands enveloping you, and you might forget for a moment that you’re on the grounds of a hospital. And that’s exactly the point.
“You usually think of a hospital as a place you go when you’re sick, but we also want it to be a place where you come before that happens,” said John Hofer, a former marketing and foundation director at the Aurora Medical Center–Bay Area, which is encircled by the 1.3-mile nature walk. “I love it when people bring kids on it because kids have to learn that hospitals aren’t scary places—they’re there to help.”
About a decade earlier, when plans began circulating for the new hospital, staff had suggested that the property’s natural setting would be perfect for a trail. Although budget restraints kept the project from fruition back then, Hofer revived the idea in 2020, seeding the project with a donation of his own. As other staff members contributed, the idea grew and expanded to a healing garden, which will be added next year.
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“How do we use this gorgeous outside area to help the healing process?” was one of the guiding factors for the trail, according to Hofer. “The healing garden is designed so patients can look out the window while they’re getting chemo, or a place family members can go to get away from the healthcare for a little while,” Hofer continued, the slightest crack in his voice.
The trail is named in honor of his wife Mary, who spent two years receiving cancer treatment at the facility before she passed away in 2019. The couple loved to walk together, especially while traveling, so it felt like a fitting tribute to her. “We both thought one of the best ways to see a new city was to walk it, get lost and find out what was around the next corner,” Hofer said.
Shortly after the trail opened in 2021, local artist Rusty Wolfe was inspired to create a handful of unique metal sculptures and donate them to enhance the experience. “The sculptures he made all have a theme, and … evocative names like ‘Rising’ and ‘Rejoice,’” explained Hofer. But one of the sculptures—two triangles set side by side—was a touching surprise; it is called “Perfect Pair” in honor of Hofer’s nearly four-decade marriage.
He and Mary grew up in the same neighborhood in Upper Michigan’s Menominee, a twin city of Marinette, Wisconsin, where the hospital and walking trail are located. Although they lived just three blocks apart, their families’ different religions kept them separate, so they didn’t know each other well. They became reacquainted in their mid-20s when working at the same newspaper.
“Her family ended up loving me like a son, and my mother started finally getting daughters,” chuckled Hofer, who is one of seven “rowdy boys.”
Today, Hofer volunteers at the hospital and takes a walk on the trail nearly every week. He’s delighted that the public has embraced it, too—hosting community walks and runs or simply enjoying wildlife. “When I volunteer at the front desk, oftentimes I’ll have people stopping by and saying, ‘I just went on the trail and really like it—thanks for doing that!’”
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