John Hoffen

Obituary written by John Hoffen 11/2/1933 - 6/30/2019 - (Per his request, as you read this please inject praise where needed) Arthur John Hoffen was born in the famous city of Nottingham England on the 2 of November 1933 and left us all on Sunday the 30th of June 2019. He was the elder son of the late Arthur and Maud Hoffen of Nottingham, and brother to the late Roger Hoffen of London. He was educated at Rossall, a prestigious private boarding school for boys on the Northwest coast of England. After winning a Royal Air Force Flying Scholarship in 1950, which enabled him to be a fully licensed pilot at 17 years of age. He joined the Royal Air Force as an Officer Cadet Pilot in 1951, at the young age of 18 and served his country until 1954. After leaving the service he took on several entry level jobs before joining the Michelin Tire company in England in 1955 in their management training program. In 1963 he was selected by Michelin in France to be sent to the United States to help develop a sales organization and train Michelin dealers in a new concept in tire engineering, the Radial Tire. Michelin at that time. was just a fledgling company here in the US with only about 50 employees in total nationwide. After rising to numerous senior managemen.t positions over the next 30 years he retired from the company he helped to grow into an industrial giant of over 25,000 employees in the USA. He was an enthusiastic and competent sportsman who in his younger years played a high standard of Cricket "A GENTLEMAN' S Game", and Rugby "A MAN'S Game". Later he turned to golf where he was a member of Green Valley Country Club for 35 years serving on the Board of Governors Vice President and as an acting President. In his retirement he helped create a senior group at Green Valley, of which he was the General Secretary and Treasurer for over ten years, and as President for 2 years. He did volunteer work helping the less fortunate, both for Meals on Wheels, and running several Golf charity events. His highlight was as a volunteer Marshall at the US Open at Bethpage NY. He is survived by his wonderful wife Daphne whom he married in 1959, his elder son Anthony 52 and his wife Rima, younger son Chris 48 and his wife Angela, and his 4 Granddaughters Kristen, Ashley, Layla, and Siddie. . The family would like to invite those who knew him best to join us Sunday July 7th at Green Valley Country Club at 3:00 PM for a Celebration of John Hoffen's life. John touched so many people and took great joy interacting with those he knew, so anyone who would like to stand and share a few words of tribute ...or just get in the last word, is encouraged to do so. Green Valley Country Club 225 Green Valley Dr Greenville SC 29617 (864) 246-2141 In the famous words of Rupert Brooke as they resonate today "If I should die think only this of me, there is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England!"

John Hoffen

November 2, 1933 - June 30, 2019