George Hoffman was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 1st, 1908. His father was a nineteen year old son of a prominent man in St. Louis and his birth mother was unknown. Since the father was a minor, his father gave the baby up adoption to William and Valesta Zink, a middle-aged couple who were childless. They named their son George Nelson Zink.
George's adopted father William died in 1915 and his mother took George to Canon City, Colorado where George took up the trade of baking, but in in early 1930's he left to work as a pastry chef for hotels on the east coast. After George's mother died in 1937 he changed his adopted name from Zink to Hoffman to sound more professional. While working in Miami as a pastry chef he met Verna Uhrenholdt who was originally from Nebraska and was working in the same hotel . They married in 1940 and lived in Miami for several years as they traveled up and down the East coast "borscht belt" hotel circuit.
When WWII came George was exempt from service and the demand for luxury baked goods in resort hotels was mostly over. George and Verna then moved to Detroit where Verna had relatives and George became a partner in the Indian Village Bakery. However, that business slowed down also and George became an inspector in a war materials factory. In 1944 they had a daughter Joan and they moved to Grosse Pointe Woods north of Detroit near Verna's sisters. After the war George went back to baking and in 1955 a sister-in-law told him of a bakery for sale in Denver, Colorado, which he bought, naming it Goodies. In Denver George was a Mason and member of the Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of Colorado.
In the early 1960s Goodies bakery was in a declining neighborhood and George sold the bakery. He found a position as Supervisor of the central bakery for a large grocery chain and moved the family to Houston, Texas. By the mid 1970's he and Verna retired and bought a home near his daughter and her family.
In 1985 George's beloved wife Verna died and he lived alone. By the 1990's' George's health was not good and his daughter, Joan, looked after him. George died on February 28th, 1997 in Houston, Texas after a long illness. His cremains are buried with his wife Verna in his son-in-law's family plot in Richmond, Texas.
George Hoffman was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 1st, 1908. His father was a nineteen year old son of a prominent man in St. Louis and his birth mother was unknown. Since the father was a minor, his father gave the baby up adoption to William and Valesta Zink, a middle-aged couple who were childless. They named their son George Nelson Zink.
George's adopted father William died in 1915 and his mother took George to Canon City, Colorado where George took up the trade of baking, but in in early 1930's he left to work as a pastry chef for hotels on the east coast. After George's mother died in 1937 he changed his adopted name from Zink to Hoffman to sound more professional. While working in Miami as a pastry chef he met Verna Uhrenholdt who was originally from Nebraska and was working in the same hotel . They married in 1940 and lived in Miami for several years as they traveled up and down the East coast "borscht belt" hotel circuit.
When WWII came George was exempt from service and the demand for luxury baked goods in resort hotels was mostly over. George and Verna then moved to Detroit where Verna had relatives and George became a partner in the Indian Village Bakery. However, that business slowed down also and George became an inspector in a war materials factory. In 1944 they had a daughter Joan and they moved to Grosse Pointe Woods north of Detroit near Verna's sisters. After the war George went back to baking and in 1955 a sister-in-law told him of a bakery for sale in Denver, Colorado, which he bought, naming it Goodies. In Denver George was a Mason and member of the Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of Colorado.
In the early 1960s Goodies bakery was in a declining neighborhood and George sold the bakery. He found a position as Supervisor of the central bakery for a large grocery chain and moved the family to Houston, Texas. By the mid 1970's he and Verna retired and bought a home near his daughter and her family.
In 1985 George's beloved wife Verna died and he lived alone. By the 1990's' George's health was not good and his daughter, Joan, looked after him. George died on February 28th, 1997 in Houston, Texas after a long illness. His cremains are buried with his wife Verna in his son-in-law's family plot in Richmond, Texas.
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