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Home » Campus News Latest » Obituaries » Adolph “Art” N. Hofmann ’58

Adolph (Art, Adi, Ady) Nicholas Hofmann of Santa Rosa, CA, passed away on June 5, 2019. He was 82 years old.

He is survived by his loving partner, Judy Hutchinson, daughters Hannah Hofmann and Ninah Hofmann, grandchildren Emma Meiners and Leo Meiners, sons-in-law Darwin Meiners and Zachary Moran, brother George Hofmann and nephew David Hofmann, by his ever faithful fur companion, his grand-dog Ivy, and by many dear friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents George Hofmann of Wurezburg, Germany and Margarete Vogl of Nuerenberg, Germany and many friends before him.

Art was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York on July 28, 1936. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating with honors in1954.

He went on to attend Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio where he graduated in 1958. There, Art completed work study programs through the department of welfare in NYC and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy.

Art was a Fulbright scholar and lived in Germany where he studied German Literature at the Freie Universitaet in Berlin. He went on to study German Literature at Johns Hopkins University and received a Masters in German Studies in 1961.

Art moved to California in the 1960s. He ran for Congress in 1968 as a Peace and Freedom Party candidate, which he used as a platform to speak out as an anti-war activist.

He taught German Language and German Literature in the Foreign Languages Department at Santa Rosa Junior College (1966-1997). He was chairman of the Foreign Languages Department from 1991-1997. He was a scholar of German history and German literature. He held special interest in the works of Bertolt Brecht, particularly his poetry.(rakinglighttranslations.com ) and German history of the late ’80s and the early ’90s, the period of unification, the time when the Berlin Wall was opened and the governmental structure of East Germany collapsed.

He was an avid woodworker and was deeply involved with the Sonoma County Woodworkers Association. He loved poetry, writing, and bird watching. He had a life long passion for cooking and baking and was known for his great spirit of adventure, seeking knowledge, enjoying friends and family and for his sarcasm and wit. In his words: “Grandfather, father, lover, woodworker, birder, cook, reader of poetry; fluent in German.” Lover of life and nature.

Art passed on while doing one of his most favorite weekly activities, walking in nature with his favorite fur companion, Ivy. He is greatly missed. Family and friends are planning a memorial to be held July 28, what would have been his 83rd birthday, in Santa Rosa, CA. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Sonoma County Parks Foundation. Family and friends wish to extend the most heartfelt gratitude to the kindness of those who helped him.

His work is at art.members.sonic.net/uniaccess/ . Links to his other work can be found at Homepage: Adolph N. Hofmann – Sonic www.sonic.net/~art/.

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