Pastor Kurt Hoffman and his wife Brenda. Photo from Trinity Evangelical Free Church website.

A pastor in the community of Stanton drowned last weekend when the car he was driving left the roadway and careened into a lake.

According to the Montcalm County Sheriff Department, Pastor Kurt Hoffman, 53, lead pastor at Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Stanton, was last seen Saturday, June 21. A passerby discovered his car on Sunday, June22, just before 10 a.m., in Lampman Lake, located on South Brown Road, between West County Farm Road and Ruby Road, in Sidney Township.

Police said that the vehicle was about 30 feet off the roadway, and submerged six feet under water. Pastor Hoffman still had his seatbelt on.

The investigation determined that he failed to negotiate the curve in the road, struck a fallen tree, and went into the lake at a high rate of speed. An autopsy found the cause of death to be drowning.

Hoffman was a long time and well-liked minister in the Stanton community.

Montcalm County EMS assisted at the scene.