Walter Hermann Hofheinz

On the 7th of March, 2014, Walter H. Hofheinz, Major, USMC (Ret.), a resident of Prescott since December 2001, passed away after a valiant battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He was born in College Point, Queens, New York to Hermann Otto Hofheinz and Louise (Mayer) Hofheinz, mid-1920s immigrants from Germany. Growing up on a farm in East Nassau, a small hamlet in the Berkshires of upstate New York, he spent his youth gazing up at silvered-wing flashes of planes flying the airways, with a dream to someday fly those planes and see the world. After high school graduation in 1954, he attended Long Island Agricultural and Technical Institute at Farmingdale (now known as NY State University, Farmingdale), and graduated in summer of 1956 with an Aircraft Operations A.A. degree. He then entered the U.S. Navy's NAVCAD program and on November 27, 1957 at NAS Pensacola, Florida, was designated a Naval Aviator, having received his 'Wings of Gold' as a commissioned 2nd Lt. in the USMC. Walt retired from the USMC in September, 1976, his dream fulfilled as a pilot and traveler, after extensive flight hours in diverse aircraft (fixed-wing and helicopter) and a U.S. Navy tour as flight instructor with training command, NAS Pensacola, FL (HT-8). He took great pride in 10,000 accident-free flight hours, his receipt of the Sikorsky 'Flying S' for a water rescue at sea, 25 Air Medals with combat 'V', and three overseas tours with First Marine Air Wing, in VMGR-152. For his service with HMR-261 during 'Operation Hunger,' a typhoon relief mission in Taiwan (Formosa), he received honorary wings from the ROC Air Force. As with his military career, Walt's civilian pursuits were diverse. From early on, Walt was a musician. He loved to play, arrange, and compose music, and over his life sang in choir and played the piano, saxophone, organ, accordion, synthesizer, bass guitar, and his beloved Martin acoustic guitar. As family and friends could attest, his abilities to fix, build, and design items were boundless. He loved to tinker, and was a journeyman in life; driven by a love to learn and understand the world. He was a creator; his talents extending to the design and creation of stained-glass projects, gardening, photography, and mastery of the kitchen and grill. After military retirement, he graduated from Cal State University, Long Beach in December 1978 with a BA in Industrial Arts, having earned membership in Epsilon Pi Tau. His post-military career spanned several companies including Hamilton-Standard, United Technologies (Electronics Div.), Home Savings and Loan, and Washington Mutual, and he retired (again!) in 1999. A loving husband, father, and 'granpoppy,' he is survived, and missed greatly, by his wife of 46 years, Patricia Anne (Allegree) Hofheinz; his children Stephen M. Hofheinz (wife Kathy) of La Mesa, CA, Christine M. Hofheinz Cooley of Longmont, CO, Michael W. Hofheinz (wife Jan) of Centreville, VA, and Eric W. Hofheinz of London, England; four grandsons; three grand-daughters; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. A future private family memorial service will be held to celebrate his life, with scattering of his ashes at sea, on the Pacific Ocean he so loved.