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| Conrad Edmund Hoffmann at 13 days with his dad. |
Dr. Conrad Edmund Hoffmann, scientist, sportsman, and loving family man, died at 90 years old on Sunday, December 19, 2010. He was born on April 15, 1920 in Lawrence, Kansas. He spend his early years in Geneva, Switzerland, where his father worked with various refugee relief agencies, including The League of Nations. Ed, as he was known to his friends, returned with his family to Blauvelt, NY, in the early 1930s and graduated from Northfield Mt. Hermon School in Massachusetts. He graduated from Cornell University (BSc ‘42, MS ’43), where he met his future wife, Margaret Daniels of Trenton, NJ, while dissecting an oyster in a biology lab. They were married on December 20, 1942, and honey-mooned in the Adirondacks during one of the coldest winters in history.
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| C.E. Hoffmann |
Hoffmann served as a Naval officer during World War II. He was stationed at Ft. Detrick, MD where he worked in Chemical Warfare research, and later at the naval hospital in Pensacola, FL. After the service, he accepted a position with the Owens Illinois (O-I) glass company researching vitamin growth in glass containers. He later worked with Lederle Pharmaceuticals in research investigating vitamin-related assays. Deciding he needed more high level training, he returned to graduate school at Case Western Reserve University in Clevelend, where he earned his PHD in Microbiology (‘51).
Dr. Hoffmann accepted a position with the duPont Company in Wilmington, DE and remained with the company until his retirement in the mid-1980s. Over the years, Ed worked and held positions of authority for various departments within duPont, including Microbiology, Endo Laboratories (pharmaceuticals) and Stine Lab. He helped guide the pioneering work on Symmetrel (Amantadine) and other anti-viral drugs during the 1960s and 1970s. He frequently contributed to professional journals and was considered an expert in the field of drugs used to combat flu viruses.
Ed loved the outdoors, a passion that he shared with Peg, his wife of almost 67 years. He was an avid fisherman, hunter, hiker, and sailor. His other hobbies and interests included bird carving, photography, and dogs. He was especially fond of waterfowl hunting and water dogs. Hoffmann volunteered with many non-profit organizations, including the Iron Hill Museum, the Delaware Nature Society, and the Northeast Power Squadron. Having grown up in Geneva, he spoke English, German, and French. He and Peg loved to travel and spent much of their retirement seeing the world together.
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| Fishing out west with John |
Ed is survived by his wife, Peg, his children, Margaret Hoffmann Reichard (David), Francis Hoffmann, John R. Hoffmann (Suzy), six (6) grandchildren, and nine(9) great-grandchildren, and his parakeet Jenny.
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| Jenny |
