Donald Dean Hoffman began life on a Loveland farm, retired a successful downtown Denver banker and died a gin-rummy champion in Surprise, Ariz.
The beloved father of two rose from humble beginnings, working his way up from a mail runner to president, chairman and chief executive of Central Bank and Trust Co. in Lower Downtown.
“He pulled himself up by his own bootstraps,” said his daughter, Kim Crawford.
Hoffman’s community service as a board member of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority helped the LoDo area flourish, she said. He also served as chairman of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Mile High United Way.
Hoffman, 88, died Dec. 23. He had struggled with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in his later years.
While Colorado’s thin air kept him from living permanently in his longtime home of Wheat Ridge, he enjoyed his life in Arizona with his companion, Charlene Byrnes.
“He fished a lot and golfed, but he was not good at it,” his daughter said. “He loved to play cards. I think he was playing gin rummy within a week before he died.”
Crawford said her father was loving and tended to her and her brother, Kirk.
“We had a really good household growing up,” she said. “We had water fights and played kickball and played hide-and-go-seek. I felt like he loved us all so much.”
The one thing Crawford most admired about her father was his work ethic.
Hoffman was born in Loveland to German immigrants. He worked at a gas station as a young man but desired a white-collar job. He did not yet have a college education.
Hoffman made his way to downtown Denver, looking for work, and found a job as a mail runner in 1941. A banker took him under his wing and showed him the business, and Hoffman pursued a graduate degree in banking from Rutgers University.
He retired from banking in 1988.
Hoffman’s highs included traveling to France, Greece, Italy and China, where he got sick from a bug on the Yangtze River.
The lows came when his wife, Patricia, died after battling cancer.
“He was heartbroken,” Crawford said.
But Hoffman found love again with Byrnes and continued his life of travels and card games with her in Arizona.
“He had a great life,” Crawford said. “He was very fortunate.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
