brigadier general david b. hoff

Brig Gen David B. Hoff was born on August 31, 1932 in Ettrick, Wisconsin.  After graduating from West Salem High School in 1949, he joined the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.   Gen Hoff graduated with honors from the School of Business with a degree in accounting in 1953 and went on to complete pilot training in 1956.

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The General served a tour of active duty from 1955 to 1958 in Texas, Florida and Furstenfeldbruck AFB in Germany, where he trained German air force pilots.  Hoff played on the "Fursty" basketball team, traveling around Europe and winning the Mutual Defense Alliance Pact championship in 1957.  In 1958, he returned to Madison and joined the Wisconsin Air National Guard (WI ANG) as a pilot, serving until 1989 when he retired as air commander of Truax Air Base and wing commander of the 128th Tactical Fighter Wing.  He was responsible for leading the 128th Tactical Fighter Wing back into the jet age following its near deactivation and the removal of its jets in the 1970s, leading with the motto "dedicated to excellence."  

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He graduated from the USAF Air War College in 1975, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1978.  General Hoff worked regularly with members of Congress in the WI ANG congressional liaison program, which he initiated.  He received Sen. William Proxmire's Reverse Golden Fleece Award in 1984 and the Reader's Digest Hero Award in 1985 for personally purchasing and expediting the installment of safety clips that prevented the disconnection of pressurized hoses attached to the gravity suits of A-10 pilots.  

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He retired with more than 6,000 flying hours, including 1,000 hours flying the A-10 Thunderbolt II.  He then served as deputy executive director of the National Guard Association of the United States from 1992 to 1993 in Washington, D.C.; and in 1994, General Hoff was inducted into the WI ANG Hall of Fame.  He said the best thing he did in life was being in the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

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In 1989, at the age of 56, General Hoff graduated cum laude from UW-Madison Law School, having served as associate editor of the Law Review, and was a member of the Order of the Coif.  He practiced law through 2005 with the same enthusiasm and dedication that he devoted to all of his pursuits.  He was a charter member of West Side Memorial Post 151 of the American Legion.   In 2006 he gave the last of his many Memorial Day speeches at Sunset Memory Gardens in Madison.   He was a chartered life underwriter and formed Hoff and Lem Inc. in 1963.  In addition, he belonged to many professional organizations and associations. 

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Brig Gen David B. Hoff died Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008 in Madison surrounded by his family.