Dana Hofman of Vashon Island died from complications of heart disease on November 1, 2019. Dana, the only child of Piet and Thelma Hofman, grew up in Lynden, WA, and attended the Lynden schools. He attended Washington State College, Western Washington College and graduated from the Art department at the University of Washington in 1967, specializing in furniture design. During this time, he also joined the Marine Corps Reserve and went to boot camp in California.
As a teenager, Dana loved spending time in the mountains near his home and was an avid hiker and skier. In 1967, he met Lindsay while taking ski lessons from John Hansen at Stevens Pass. This included spending four weekends together at the Mountaineer Cabin before their first date. They were married on Midsummer Night in 1968 and shared the adventures of life together for 51 years. Dana used his woodworking skills both professionally and at home. During their time in California Dana’s table was chosen to be exhibited in California Design 11 at the Pasadena Art Museum. Back in Seattle, he built the trimaran sailboat Triple Helix, which he and Lindsay lived on for four years in Lake Union. Triple Helix was the first home for their two sons born in 1975 and 1978. In addition to building the boat, Dana also built their house on Vashon, which they lived in briefly before a sojourn in Saudi Arabia. This was followed by a year sailing Triple Helix down the west coast into the Sea of Cortez and back.
As their oldest son was ready for school, they returned to their house on Vashon and lived a more settled life. This included six years on Vashon, six years in North Carolina and six years in Vancouver, WA. During this time, Dana used his skills in various jobs building cabinets, as a building inspector and running the cabinet shop for Christensen Yachts. He continued with high-end cabinetry, when they moved back to Vashon, working for Krekow Jennings, as a project manager on the Shirely house in Medina, among other things.
When he retired, Dana and Lindsay acquired another trimaran, Yeta, and spent many wonderful weeks sailing in the US and Canadian NW Islands. Family was very important to Dana and he and Lindsay were strong supporters of the boys’ swim teams and orchestras. Dana also served on a number of community boards including the Vashon Park District and Vashon Maury Island Audubon. Dana was inordinately proud of his sons, Gordon Hofman (Amy Mandin), VP –Finance, SSA Marine, and Pierce Hofman (Carrie Priebe), Principal PDM, Amazon Web Services, and their families. He is survived by his wife, sons and four grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, November 16, at 1:00 p.m. followed by high tea at Vashon Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Vashon Audubon at PO Box 838, Vashon, WA 98070.
