Elmer Herbert Hoff's Obituary
HOFF, ELMER HERBERT Herb was born in Reisterstown, Maryland on March 21, 1922 and passed away in Dallas, Texas on August 24, 2012 at the age of 90. Born to Elmer Herbert Hoff and Katherine Cummings Hoff, he spent his youth in Pikesville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. He married Mary Ruth Lingan, of Baltimore, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on December 5, 1942. He was inducted into the United States Army shortly after, and served honorably in the South Pacific as a regimental radio operator from 1943 until the end of the war in 1945. In addition to many awards by the United States Army, he was awarded the Philippine Liberation Medal by the government of the Republic of the Philipines. After serving his country, he enrolled in and was graduated from the Commercial Radio Institute in Baltimore as a radio and television engineer in 1947. He became employed by television station WBAL in Baltimore, one of the first television stations in the country, and was instrumental in the building of the station and bringing it on the air. He was employed there until 1953, and rose to become a technical supervisor. In 1953, the family moved to Hutchinson, Kansas. Herb became the assistant chief engineer and supervised the building of television station KTVH. In 1954, he accepted the position of Chief Engineer at KCEB television in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was lured into a different profession by The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) as a radio and television sales engineer in 1955, and moved to Richardson, Texas. He travelled a great deal in his territory of western Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico and grew to love the area. He was known affectionately as “Mr. Television” among those he dealt with, due to his pioneering work in the industry. After retiring from RCA in 1983, he took a similar position with MZB, Inc. in Dallas, where he worked until finally retiring in 1987. Herb enjoyed bird watching, fishing, “ham” radio, and genealogy. He loved spending time on the beaches of south Texas with his family, and travelled throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and the Far East. He was a proud veteran of World War II, and attended the opening ceremonies of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D. C. in 2002. He will always be remembered as a devoted husband and father. He saw to it that his sons had excellent educations. He adored his grandchildren, and was equally loved by them. He is survived by his wife Mary Ruth, sons Elmer Herbert “Sandy” Hoff III and Stuart Dexter Hoff, and grandchildren Christopher Carrington Hoff, Shannon Elizabeth Hoff, Andrea Michelle Hoff, and Patrick Stuart Hoff. A private memorial service is planned.
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