Julian Hoffmann, World War II Vet, Businessman, Dies At 95

Courtesy of Bloomfield Cooper Jewish Chapel

Julian Hoffman, World War II veteran, businessman, congressional and presidential campaign finance chairman, DNC delegate passed away on Dec. 6, 2017 in Long Branch, New Jersey. He was 95.

He was born in Brooklyn on Aug. 2, 1922. Julian and his parents, Alexander Hoffman (born, Felshtein, Ukraine) and Hilda Hoffman (born Vilna, Lithuania), moved to Belmar, New Jersey when he was an infant. Julian attended the Belmar Grammar School, Asbury Park High School, and Monmouth Junior College before graduating from Indiana University in 1943 with a bachelor of science in business and accounting.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 12, 1943 and was deployed in the Pacific theater in World War II, from May 1944 to November 1945, first in Finchhaven, New Guinea and then in Northern Luzon, Philippines, where he was a first sergeant in charge of the 307th Ordinance Company (200 soldiers), which was preparing to invade Japan. After declining a field commission, he was discharged from the U.S. Army on Dec. 8, 1945.

In June 1946, Julian married Betty Louise Spiegal in her hometown of Anderson, Indiana. They met at Indiana University, lived in Belmar, NJ until 1962 in the house at 1105 E. Street from which the E Street Band's name came, Deal Park, NJ from 1962 to 1997, and in Long Branch ever since.

After returning home from WWII, Hoffman joined his father in running South Shore Paper Inc. (first in Belmar and then in Neptune City), the paper products and janitorial supplies company founded by his father. He was president from 1965 through 1986 when he sold the company and embarked on a number of ventures in the hotel and real estate industries.

Through the years he was also involved in a number of other business ventures with his friends. These included Wild West City near Toms River and Frontier Town near Pleasantville, NJ in the 1950s, the West End Casino and Colony Surf Club in West End (Long Branch), NJ during the 1960s, and the Park and Shore (home of the Pandemonium Club) Motels in Wanamassa, NJ and parking lots, rides, and arcades on the Asbury Park boardwalk in the 1970s and 1980s.

Julian was a loving, caring force, who made a major impact on all whom he met. Hoffman's contributions to the local, state, and national civic, political, and religious communities were profound. The number of individuals whom he helped get jobs or helped directly financially is legendary in the community.

He was Founding Chairman, Board of Directors of Monmouth Health Care Foundation (Monmouth Medical Center Foundation, from 1988-1993; Life Honorary Member, Monmouth Health Care Foundation and an Honorary Trustee; and a member of the Board of Trustees of Monmouth Medical Center; the Board of Trustees of Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ; and Executive Council of the Boy Scouts of America Monmouth Council. The Boy Scouts of America Monmouth Council recognized him as "man of the year." He was a life member of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars.

He was commissioner of the New Jersey Highway Authority and treasurer of the Executive Committee from 1974 to 1982 (appointed by Governor Brendan Byrne); finance chairman for James Howard's successful campaign for U.S. Congress in 1964; New Jersey finance chairman for Birch Bayh's campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1976; and a New Jersey delegate to the Democratic Party National Conventions in New York City (1976, 1980) and San Francisco (1984).

He was Founding President of the Jewish Federation of the Shore Area (now the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey) and member of the Executive Committee and Leaders Council; Chairman, United Jewish Appeal, Belmar, NJ beginning in 1947 (he was the youngest chairman in the United States in 1947 and personally gave Abba Eban, then head of Israel's commission to the UN, a check for $5,000 in Atlantic City, NJ); president of the Hillel School of the Shore Area (approximately 15 years) and Honorary President of the Hillel School of the Shore Area (Life); Founding Member Monmouth Jewish Family and Children's Service; Chairman, Israel Bonds Campaign, Monmouth County and Honorary Chairman of Monmouth County Israel Bonds; Vice President, Congregation Sons of Israel, Belmar, NJ (approximately 20 years); Vice President, Congregation Sons of Israel, Asbury Park, NJ (approximately 20 years); and Life member, Jewish War Veterans. He was recognized as "man of the year" by Congregation Sons of Israel, Asbury Park, the Hillel School of the Shore area (twice), Monmouth County Israel Bonds, and the Monmouth County Society of the Fellows of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

Julian was an excellent (best handicap 7), avid golfer who was a member of first Jumping Brook Country Club and then Hollywood Country Club from the late 1940s through the 1990s. He loved to dance and won many dance competitions. He also loved music, particularly that of Frank Sinatra; he named his boat "My Way." He and his wife of 71 years, Louise, spent an enormous amount of time with an incredibly close circle of friends with whom they pursued charitable and civic endeavors, meals, nights out, and travel.

In the U.S. their favorite spots were Florida (they had a condo in Palm Beach for nearly 20 years), Las Vegas, San Diego, and Puerto Rico. However, they also traveled to Cuba, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republican, Mexico, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, England, the Soviet Union (to visit refuseniks) and Israel.

Israel is the place that captured Julian's heart. He and Louise began visiting in the early 1960s, and they particularly enjoyed their interactions with Israel's leaders and their own family, and celebrating their grandsons', Alexander and Benjamin, Bar Mitzvahs in Jerusalem. He made his last of more than 20 trips to Israel in June 2008 along with his son Stephen and grandson Seth.

Julian is survived by his wife Betty Louise Hoffman, sons and daughter-in-laws Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman and Dr. B. Kim Lee Sim of Gaithersburg, MD and Mr. Jeffrey Hoffman and Dr. Rachel Mendelsohn of Holmdel, NJ, and grandchildren, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander and Kelly, Dr. Seth, and Mr. Benjamin Hoffman.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 8 at Bloomfield Cooper Funeral Home, 2130 Rt. 35, South Ocean, NJ. Internment will follow at Chesed Shel Ames Cemetery, 2522 West Bangs Avenue, Neptune, NJ. Family and friends can visit with Mrs. Hoffman and family after the funeral at the Imperial House, 787 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, NJ 07740.

Please direct any donations in his memory to Jewish Family and Children Services of Monmouth County (http://www.jfcsmonmouth.org/) or Monmouth Medical Center Foundation (http://www.barnabashealth.org/Monmouth-Medical-Center/Giving/About-Our-Foundation.aspx)

Image: Courtesy of Bloomfield Cooper Jewish Chapel