George Leo Hoffman, Jr., 68, passed away at 1:15 a.m. at his home in Sonora, Texas on June 4, 2003. He was buried in Center, Missouri. George was born in Center, Missouri on May 14, 1935. His early years were spent on a farm on the outskirts of Center. Early on, his passion for hunting emerged. He spent many hours in the woods hunting. At 18 he married Mary Webb and they moved to Pampa, Texas where he sold insurance and began working in the oil field. One and one-half years later, they moved to Farmington, New Mexico where they lived for the next 13 years. During these 13 years George continued to pursue his passion for hunting in earnest by taking yearly trips with several hunting buddies to bag deer and elk. In 1967, another job change moved the family to Gunnison, Colorado where George oversaw a mining operation for the John Hill Company. Gunnison was a sportsman�s paradise. George taught both of his girls to shoot and to hunt and the family hunted and fished together. In 1971, his employer sent George to South Africa. An African hunting safari had been a lifetime dream, so he took the opportunity to take a hunting safari to Mozambique while in Africa. Over the next 30 years, George hunted in North America and in numerous African countries and obtained professional hunters licenses in Colorado, South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, and the Sudan. He and Mary started Professional Hunters LTD and the "hobby" became his livelihood. They would spend 3 to 6 months a year in the African bush and in the Canadian or Alaskan wilderness where George would guide clients on hunting safaris and Mary would manage the camps. He was a hunter par excellence and was sought out by hunters all over the world for his knowledge and expertise, not only for hunting but also for his ballistics and hand loading knowledge. He designed a large bore rifle that was made by a well-known gun maker that was sold with his signature as the .416 Hoffman. Many references were made to the gun and George�s use of the .416 for large African game in numerous articles and books. For many years, he wrote articles about guns and hunting which were published in various well-known hunting magazines, such as Peterson�s Hunting and Safari Magazine, Handloader, and Game Coin magazine. In 1998, he wrote and published "A Country Boy in Africa". His book was well received and those who read it, commented that it was one of the most interesting and honest books they�d read about safari hunting in Africa. George was a member of the New Hope Baptist Church in Sonora, Texas. He was a member of the Safari Club International, the International Professional Hunters Association, the Dallas Safari Club, the West Texas Anglers Bass Club, the Permian Basin Bass Club, BASS, and the National Rifle Association. George is survived by his wife of 49 years, Mary; daughters Debbie Dennis of Mansfield, Texas, Cynthia Caldwell of Sonora, Texas; one granddaughter, Georgia Marie Maritz of Sonora, Texas.
