[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 177 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN MEMORY OF WALTER WILLIAM HOFFMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2008

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in memory of Walter William 
Hoffman, who died on Veterans Day after 86 years of a fulfilling life.
  Walter and his late wife, Sheila, were longtime personal friends to 
my wife, Janice, and me.
  Walter Hoffman was a native of Ventura County, California. His 
parents raised him on Rancho Casitas, where they bred thoroughbreds, 
including Crystal Pennant. He attended St. Catherine's Academy, 
Thatcher School, Villanova, and USC.
  During World War II, Walter served as communications, navigation and 
executive officer aboard the USS Buchanan and was Officer of the Deck 
on the day the Buchanan delivered General Douglas McArthur to the USS 
Missouri for Japan's surrender.
  Sheila and Walter married after the war and settled in Ventura County 
where he began his career in farming, animal husbandry, and petroleum 
operations. In 1947, he built and operated the Ventura Airpark. In 
1956, Walter and his late partners Oather Vance and William Worthington 
formed that land management firm, Hoffman, Vance and Worthington.
  A Renaissance man, Walter skippered and navigated boats in the 
Transpac Race, the Mazatlan Race and the Bermuda Race. He held a 
commercial pilot's license, was a licensed amateur radio operator and 
played the violin and the accordion. As a young man, he traveled around 
the world with his grandmother.
  Walter also served on multiple boards, including the Bank of A. Levy, 
Santa Anita Consolidated, American Automobile Association, Livingston 
Memorial Foundation, St. John's Seminary, and Fales Committee at the 
U.S. Naval Academy.
  He was a past chairman of the board of the Automobile Club of 
Southern California and was a past president of the Ventura Pacific 
Company, Crestview Water Company, and the Oceanographic Associates at 
USC. He was a past Commodore of the Transpacific Yacht Club and a 
founder of the Museum of Ventura County.
  Pope John XXIII knighted him with the Order of St. Gregory, Knight 
Commander.
  Walter Hoffman is survived by his two daughters, Katherine Russell 
and Carol Hambleton; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues will join Janice and me in offering 
our condolences to Walter's family and all who knew him and called him 
a friend.
  Godspeed, Walter.

                          ____________________