A home building legend, and Hoffman Estates' namesake

Sure, Jack Hoffman helped build homes - several of them, in fact - but he was so much more.

Hoffman and his father, Sam, transformed acres of mushy farmland off Higgins Road into a bedroom community next to Schaumburg.

The community later adopted the family name and in 1959 Hoffman Estates was born, with a population of about 8,000 and just under three square miles.

On Wednesday, the community mourned the loss of a man who more than a pioneering entrepreneur. They remembered a kind man, a man who liberally donated land for the community's benefit, a man who treated employees fairly and with respect.

Jack Hoffman, the 84-year-old namesake of Hoffman Estates, died Tuesday night.

"He believed so strongly in the dignity of people," said his son, Buz Hoffman.

"He was one of the first, if not the first, merchant builder in Chicago to sell to nonwhites. That was a big risk at that time. It may have cost him initially, but his value system allowed him eventually to be so successful."

After World War II, Jack Hoffman arrived in 1954 from Phoenix, as F&S (Father and Son) Construction Co. looked to expand. Hoffman listened to his father and focused on the financial aspect of the industry.

Parcel A, which would become Hoffman Estates, was particularly attractive with O'Hare Airport undergoing expansion and crews finishing the Northwest Tollway.

The family never intended to build a village, Buz Hoffman said.

Seymour Pearlman was one of the Hoffmans' first customers in 1956. He purchased a three-bedroom home with a crawl space on Basswood Road for $14,950 and moved his family from Chicago.

"Hoffman ran an ad in the newspaper, and I had a family and needed to move out of the place we were living," Pearlman recalls. "And we couldn't find it at first, we actually found it by accident."

Hoffman focused on quality homes for first-time buyers. Harry Buck moved to the area in 1956 after finishing 5,000 homes in Denver. He worked for Hoffman for 22 years as his construction superintendent.

"They were well-built," Buck said. "We never tried to shorten anybody."

One of Hoffman's innovations was building a mill so construction could go faster. Workers could build as many as four homes in a day.

Still, it almost didn't happen. Before building in Illinois, the Hoffmans seriously looked at building homes in Baltimore after buying land there. They later discovered underground gas tanks on the site and they got out of the deal.

"And we came back to Illinois," Buck said.

In 1969 Jack Hoffman became the first president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago. In 1988 the association inducted him into its Court of Honor.

"He was a legend, he contributed greatly to the industry," the association's Ralph Kristensen said. "He envisioned extensive suburban growth."

Wanting to make his homes more attractive, Hoffman donated land to Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, where eventually six schools were built.

"I was so impressed by him," Hoffman Estates Village Historian Pat Barch said. "He was such a gentleman."

F&S also donated construction services for the schools, At the time the donation was valued at $1.2 million, Barch added.

"Hoffman thought it was very important to build a community, not just houses," said Dyrle Rathman, a Hoffman Estates trustee from 1971 to 1975.

This past June, Barch organized an event to honor Hoffman. He told the crowd a story about how he spoke a little German, which proved invaluable while convincing the gentleman farmers to sell their land for redevelopment.

"He was just a smooth talker, really," Buck said. "He could charm you."

F&S changed names through the years, and eventually became Hoffman Homes which at one time was the state's largest homebuilder.

Hoffman and his brother-in-law, Robert Rosner, ran the company in Hoffman Estates, and the company name changed to Hoffman Rosner.

Hoffman sold the company and retired in 1988 after building about 30,000 homes, including 5,000 in Hoffman Estates.

Hoffman also built homes in DuPage County and south suburban Frankfort. He built the first high-rise condo building in Chicago and even built a few mid-rise condos in Tel Aviv.

The community aspect of his business didn't stop with schools. Hoffman also donated parcels which would become Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, St. Hubert Catholic Church, Holy Innocents Episcopal Church and First Baptist Church.

Hoffman was Jewish and though never a member, he donated land to start Congregation Beth Tikvah.

Pearlman, a synagogue member, said Hoffman sold the land to the congregation at a reduced rate, and later donated those payments back to Beth Tikvah. Hoffman also aided in securing a strong mortgage for the temple.

"He always made sure we had what we needed," Pearlman said.

Buz Hoffman followed in his father's footsteps, and serves as president of Lakewood Homes, based in Hoffman Estates. The general assembly in Springfield recognized the family's achievements by declaring May 9, 2003 to be Lakewood Homes Day.

"He believed in his buyers and he believed in his homes and the Golden Rule," Buz Hoffman said.

Jack Hoffman, of Highland Park, grew up on Chicago's west side and attended Austin High School. He served in the Navy until 1946 and graduated from the University of Illinois with an accounting degree.

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Chicago Jewish Funerals, 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove.

• Staff Writer Deborah Donovan contributed to this report.