Kenneth H Hofmann

Kenneth H. Hofmann, the dynamic Bay Area homebuilder, philanthropist, outdoorsman and former co-owner of the A’s and Seattle Seahawks, died Sunday April 22 2018. He was 95. Schott and Hofmann sold the Athletics in 2005 for $180 million to a group headed by Lewis Wolff. Hofmann was also co-owner, with fellow real-estate mogul Kenneth Behring, of the Seahawks from 1988 to 1997 before selling the team to current owner Paul Allen. He started as a plastering contractor in 1948, during the post-World War II building boom and moved to home building in 1951. Then, in 1957, he started the Hofmann Company, which by the mid-1980s had built more than 30,000 homes and apartments and more than $150 million worth of commercial and industrial properties. He was a two-time president of the Building Industry Association. He also owned a golf club and operated a ranch in the Sacramento Valley with its own airstrip, where he converted farmland to wetlands to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl and songbirds. He used the riches from his construction projects to donate millions to De La Salle High- Concord, and other crusades in the world of sports and outdoors. Hofmann was born and raised in Oakland and graduated from Fremont High School. He attended St. Mary’s College for two years before graduating from the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. Hofmann is survived by his wife, Jean, and two daughters.