Jerold Charles Hoffberger

Notes:

NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY
Jerold Hoffberger, 80, Owner of Series-Winning Orioles, Dies
By Richard Goldstein - April 13, 1999

Jerold C. Hoffberger, who owned the Baltimore Orioles when they won five American League pennants and two World Series titles in the 1960's and 1970's, died last Friday at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore after collapsing during a business meeting. He had celebrated his 80th birthday two days earlier.
Following a path established by owners like Jacob Ruppert of the Yankees and August Busch of the St. Louis Cardinals, Mr. Hoffberger, who had been president of the Baltimore-based National Brewing Company, blended the beer business with baseball ownership.

A native of Baltimore and a major benefactor of its educational, medical and religious institutions, Mr. Hoffberger played a role in bringing major league baseball to his hometown. When the Griffith family, owners of the Washington Senators, expressed opposition to the sale of the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore investors in 1953, Mr. Hoffberger offered to have his brewery sponsor Senator games. That deal helped soften the Senators' opposition to a nearby competitor for their fan base.

Mr. Hoffberger became chairman of the Orioles in June 1965 after purchasing the 40 percent interest owned by Joseph A. W. Iglehart. The following December, the Orioles obtained the slugger Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds, a deal that helped propel Baltimore to pennants in four of the next six seasons.
When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982, Robinson paid tribute to the Oriole owner's personal touch, saying that after a game, ''he wouldn't come over and slap you on the back and say nice game-winning home run, nice double, nice play or whatever.''

''The first words out of his mouth were: 'How are you? How's your family? Is there anything I can do for you?' '' Robinson said.
But when Mr. Hoffberger was a member of the Player Relations Committee, the club owners' labor-relations unit, he drew the ire of Marvin Miller, the players union leader. Mr. Miller accused Mr. Hoffberger of being the most active owner in efforts to break the players strike of 1972, saying that he had the other owners acting as ''puppets on his string.'' Mr. Hoffberger denied that, saying that he had often been on the losing end of ownership votes, and he called Mr. Miller's remarks ''the tactics of guys who are losing ground with their constituents.''

Despite the Orioles' success on the field, they did not draw particularly well at Memorial Stadium at a time when suburban multipurpose stadiums with better sight lines were being built. Mr. Hoffberger spent several years seeking new ownership, then sold the Orioles in August 1979 for $12 million to the Washington lawyer Edward Bennett Williams, who then owned the Washington Redskins football team.

When he had taken control of the Orioles, Mr. Hoffberger asked Frank Cashen, a former sports columnist and advertising director for his brewery, to run the team. Mr. Cashen was the Orioles' executive vice president from 1966 to 1975, then returned to a position at the brewery. In February 1980, Nelson Doubleday, the new co-owner of the floundering Mets, received an unsolicited phone call from Mr. Hoffberger, who suggested he hire Mr. Cashen as general manager. The Mets did that, and Mr. Cashen went on to build their 1986 World Series winner.
Jerold Charles Hoffberger, the grandson of a Baltimore ice and coal merchant, attended the University of Virginia and served in the First Armored Division in World War II. His father, Samuel, a major stockholder in the National Brewing Company, later brought him into the company.

Mr. Hoffberger was known for his charitable contributions, which included assistance to Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland and Goucher College. Town & Country magazine estimated in 1983 that he had donated more than $10 million to charities.

He is survived by his wife, Alice; three sons, Peter and Richard of Baltimore and David of Arnold, Md.; a daughter, Carol McCarthy of Newark, Del.; two sisters, Lois Feinblatt of Baltimore and Rosel Schewel of Lynchburg, Va., and 10 grandchildren.

A version of this article appears in print on April 13, 1999, Section C, Page 23 of the National edition with the headline: Jerold Hoffberger, 80, Owner of Series-Winning Orioles, Dies



BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES
Baltimorean Heroes of Israel Advocacy
By Connor Graham - April 19, 2018

Any individual accomplishment on the resume of Jerold "Chuck" Hoffberger is impressive enough for one person?s lifetime. Owner of the Baltimore Orioles for 14 years and owner of the National Brewing Company for 28 years are among his accolades.

Add to that list a stint as chairman of the board of governors for the Jewish Agency for Israel, during which Hoffberger was a part of meetings to plan Operation Moses, a rescue mission that successfully brought some 8,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and his story becomes nearly inconceivable.

"He wasn't a guy who talked about his work much. He was much more interested in our pedestrian lives," said Hoffberger's son, Peter. "It wasn't at all that he was this tight-lipped guy who kept his cards close to his vest, he was just more interested in what we had to say."

Hoffberger's lack of disclosure wasn't exclusive to clandestine, potentially dangerous missions like Operation Moses. Peter remembers the way he learned of his father's first, and arguably greatest accomplishment as the owner of the Orioles, the signing of Frank Robinson.

"I don't think I knew about it until I was walking across the hall at Park School and saw Frank Robinson walk in with his kid," said Peter, barely able to control his laughter.

When asked at what point his father became involved in philanthropy, Peter replied, "Birth."

"His grandparents were exceedingly generous people," Peter said. "They were really planning to address a systemic social concern and eliminate it."

To end his phone interview with JT, Peter shared an anecdote to illustrate his father's ability to be a masterful negotiator, while also not taking himself too seriously.

Shortly after Hoffberger's death in 1999, the family went through one of his vaults, which contained a manila envelope with six documents. Although the majority of them Peter could not recall, two will forever stand out in his mind.

"One document was the owner's manual for his Casablanca overhead fan; the other was an advance copy of the Camp David Peace Accord, the body of which he had sought to influence at the pleasure of President Carter," Peter said, chuckling in disbelief. "On the Accord was a note in my father's handwriting, instructing his secretary to file it away and pull it out in ten years so they could see "how it was holding up."?



JEROLD HOFFBERGER
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 5 Jan 2020

Jerold Charles Hoffberger (April 7, 1919 - April 9, 1999) was an American businessman. He was president of the National Brewing Company from 1946 to 1973. He was also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League from 1954 to 1965, and majority owner from 1965 to 1979.

BIOGRAPHY
Hoffberger was a lifelong resident of Baltimore, Maryland, and was Jewish. He was the only son of his father Samuel, a lawyer who was active in the Democratic Party and a major shareholder and board chairman of National Brewing. His grandfather Charles had been a local merchant who sold wood, coal and ice. Hoffberger attended the University of Virginia. During World War II, he served in the United States Army with the 1st Armored Division in Africa, France and Italy, where he was wounded near Lake Bracciano, northwest of Rome. Jerold Hoffberger was also involved in the Battle of Monte Cassino.

BUSINESS CAREER
The year after the war ended, he was appointed president of the brewery by his father after the death of his predecessor, Arthur Deute. Under the younger Hoffberger's command, National's sales rose from 230,000 barrels in 1946 to two million in 1966.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
In 1953, when the St. Louis Browns of baseball's American League wanted to move to Baltimore, the nearby Washington Senators, led by Clark Griffith, objected to the potential encroachment on their market. Hoffberger helped ease the way for the move by making his National Bohemian beer a Senators sponsor.[2] When Browns owner Bill Veeck was all but forced to sell the team, Hoffberger and attorney Clarence Miles put together a syndicate that bought the team for $2.5 million and moved it to Baltimore as the Orioles.
Hoffberger was the largest single shareholder in the Orioles, but was initially a silent partner with Miles (1954-1955), James Keelty (1955-1960) and Joe Iglehart (1960-1965). During this time, however, he bought more and more stock until he acquired controlling interest in 1965. He immediately brought in Frank Cashen, National's advertising director, as executive vice president. Under the direction of Cashen and general manager Harry Dalton, the Orioles won four AL pennants and two World Series from 1966 to 1971.
He was a 1996 honoree into the Orioles Hall of Fame, inducted with Cal Ripken, Sr. and Billy Hunter. 400 showed up at the luncheon at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel.
When Baltimore Oriole star Frank Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, he made reference to Hoffberger. He said that after a game, Hoffberger "wouldn't come over and slap you on the back and say nice game-winning home run, nice double, nice play or whatever. The first words out of his mouth were: 'How are you? How's your family? Is there anything I can do for you?'."

LATER LIFE
National Brewing merged with Canadian brewer Carling in 1975. Hoffberger sold his share of the Orioles to Washington, D.C. lawyer Edward Bennett Williams in 1979.
Hoffberger was known for his charitable contributions, which included assistance to Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland and Goucher College. Town & Country magazine estimated in 1983 that he had donated more than $10 million to charities.
In the early 1970s, Hoffberger purchased a farm near Woodbine called Sunset Hill Farm (formerly Helmore Farm) in Howard County, Maryland where he bred Thoroughbred horses for racing. While primarily a breeder, he did race horses on his own, notably winning the 1984 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park Race Track.
Hoffberger died at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, two days after his 80th birthday.

Family/Spouse: Alice Berney. Alice was born about 1926 in Maryland; died on 4 Feb 2016 in United States of America; was buried in Reisterstown, Baltimore County, Maryland, US. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Gertrude Miller. Gertrude (daughter of Louis Miller and Sarah Miller) was born on 22 Feb 1895 in Maryland; died in Mar 1981 in Baltimore MD; was buried in Baltimore MD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Charles married Sarah Hollander. Sarah was born in Jun 1862 in Galicia AT; died on 3 Jul 1925 in Baltimore MD; was buried in Baltimore MD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died by suicide

Louis married Sarah Miller in 1894. Sarah was born in Mar 1877 in Riga Russia; died in Unk. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Samuel married Hinde Schmitt. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Chester married Feige Miller. Feige was born in Abt. 1838 in Joniskis, Kaunas or Chenilah Province, Lithuania ; died on 3 Nov 1925 in Baltimore MD; was buried in Baltimore MD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]