Mary Helen Hoff, an Orange Park woman who inspired the creation of a flag honoring military personnel taken as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, died Tuesday. She was 84.
In 1970, Mrs. Hoff had recently given birth to her fifth child when her husband, Navy Cmdr. Michael G. Hoff, was shot down in combat during the Vietnam War.
The youngest of her children, Joe Hoff, was less than a year old at the time and this week he said his mother spent a lot of her energy keeping the family together after her husband was declared missing. He was never found.
