George Hoffman Jr.

Colonel George Earl Hoffman, Jr., of Gulf Breeze, passed away on Monday, August 16th after a brief illness. He was 88 years old.
Col. Hoffman was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. He has resided in the Gulf Breeze area since July 1974. He was a 1940 graduate of Pensacola High School; he attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, AL; and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY on 1 July 1941. He graduated from the Academy on 6 June 1944 with his pilot's rating and a Regular Commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces.
Col. Hoffman served in both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force (USAF), retiring from the latter in June 1974 after completing 30 years of commissioned service. He started his long military career as a fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater flying P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs, during the latter months of World War II and immediately following. In 1949 he was selected to join a cadre of USAF and Royal Air Force personnel to establish Air Defense Command with its Headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO. He served in air defense work until mid-1955 at which time he entered the USAF Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. Upon graduation he was assigned to the Air Staff, Headquarters, USAF, at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. In 1960 he and his family moved to Paris, France, where he was assigned to the International Logistics Planning Section at Headquarters, U.S. European Command.
He returned to the United States in mid-1963 to attend the USAF Air War College also at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. Upon graduation he returned to the Pentagon with assignment to the J-4 Division within the organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In September of 1964 he was awarded his Master of Arts Degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. He departed for Vietnam in September 1968 where he assumed the position as Chief Logistic Adviser to the Vietnamese Air Force under the Military Assistance Command, Republic of Vietnam. Upon completion of his initial tour of duty in Vietnam he was appointed Director of International Logistics at Headquarters' Air Force Logistics Command, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH. His responsibilities encompassed management of all USAF foreign aid and sales programs worldwide. This assignment often found him in Vietnam, flying with his son, John, then an Army Helicopter Pilot. Col. Hoffman retired from the USAF on 30 June 1974 and returned to this area, reestablishing his residence in Gulf Breeze. He was the recipient of three Legion of Merit medals along with numerous other U.S. and foreign military decorations.
Col. Hoffman joined the State of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation as the District Enforcement Officer for the state's Northwest District in December 1974. He retired from this position in August 1987. He is the only son of Monica Langford and George Earl Hoffman, Sr., former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Col. Hoffman was a member of Saint Michael Catholic Parish in Pensacola; a Knight Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; a member of the Knights of Columbus; the Air Force Association, The Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, The Retired Officers Association, the Order of Daedalians, the Gulf Breeze Optimist Club, the Romeos and the Willowood DDS.
Col. Hoffman is survived by his wife, Renee Lintz Hoffman; two daughters: Marie Price of Austin, Texas; Anne Medio of Charleston, S.C.; three sons: Col. John T. Hoffman, USA, Retired, of Black Mountain, N.C.; Carl T. Hoffman II of Gulf Breeze; and Philip D. Hoffman, also of Gulf Breeze; one son who passed away in 2005, George E. Hoffman III, and one daughter, Margaret Duntz, who passed away in 2008; 21 grandchildren; one deceased grandchild, Catlin Hoffman; and nine great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be 5:00to 7:00pm Thursday, August 19, 2010 at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel. The Rosary will be prayed at 5:15pm.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 9:30am Friday, August 20, 2010 at St. Michael Catholic Church. Burial with full military honors will follow at Barrancas National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Col. Hoffman's name to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105; or to American Cancer Society, 5401 Corporate Woods Drive #100, Pensacola, FL 32504.
HARPER-MORRIS MEMORIAL CHAPEL is in charge of arrangements.