Katherine Hoffman | |
![]() Undated | |
Birth: | 1 August 1914 Winter Haven, Florida, USA |
Death: | 18 July 2020 Tallahassee, Florida, USA |
Age: | 105 years, 352 days |
Country: | ![]() |
Centenarian |
Katherine "Kitty" Marie Hoffman (née Blood; 1 August 1914 – 18 July 2020) was an American centenarian, chemist, and academic administrator.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Hoffman was born in Winter Haven, Florida, USA on 1 August 1914. Her parents were Norman Blood (1885–1973) and Laura (née McCrary) Blood (1887–1986). She had two brothers: Norman Blood Jr. (1920–2008), the founder of Delray Beach landmark Blood’s Hammock Groves and Dr Arthur McCrary Blood (1922–2015), a Psychiatry doctor.
Education and career[]
She attended the Florida State College for Women (which later became Florida State University) for her undergraduate. She began her degree in 1932, and finished with a degree in bacteriology in 1936. She went on to Columbia University for a master's degree in chemistry, which she completed in 1938.
Hoffman returned to Florida State College for Women in 1940, where she remained through its name-change to Florida State University and for the rest of her career. She began as a chemistry instructor, and was promoted, reaching full professor in 1959. She served as Dean of Women from 1967 to 1970, in which role she eased restrictions placed upon female students. She retired from the university in 1984, but remained active in university service during retirement.
Personal life[]
She married Harold "Hank" Hoffman in West Palm Beach, Florida on 22 October 1938. The family moved to Tallahassee in 1940. The couple had one son: Norris Wheeler Hoffman (born 23 December 1945).
Her husband died in November 1996 at 82. They had been married 58 years at the time of his death.
Awards and honors[]
Upon the occasion of her retirement, the chemistry department of Florida State University named a laboratory building in her honor; it was rededicated to her in 2018. Hoffman was awarded an honorary doctorate by Florida State University in 2007.
Death[]
Hoffman died of COVID-19 at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Tallahassee, Florida, USA on 18 July 2020 at the age of 105 years, 352 days.
Gallery
References[]
- Chemistry Post At FSU Is Given To Mrs. Hoffman Tallahassee Democrat, 12 October 1962
- Dr. Hoffman is Author of Science Book Tallahassee Democrat, 4 March 1964
- FSU Dean Steps Down, Returning to Classroom Tallahassee Democrat, 17 August 1970
- A modest legend Tallahassee Democrat, 19 September 2007
- Kitty Hoffman ready for another century Tallahassee Democrat, 31 July 2014
- 100th birthday (Florida State University Admissions) Facebook, 1 August 2014
- Katherine Hoffman, ‘Eternal’ Florida State Figure, Dies at 105 The New York Times, 29 July 2020
- Katherine Hoffman Find A Grave