E.J. "Jodie" Hoffer and Maryann Gibson Hoffer
In addition to being successful business leaders in our
community, Jodie and Maryann Hoffer are vitally involved in serving the Houston community
with their skills and talents. We want to recognize the significant contributions they
have made toward making a difference in the lives of people in our community.
Edward Joseph "Jodie" Hoffer is a native of Beaumont, attended the University of Texas and has lived in Houston for over forty years. Born in Texas, Maryann Gibson Hoffer meets no strangers. As the daughter of Drew Gibson, a geophysicist in the oil industry, Maryann has lived in over fifty cities. Her family settled in Oklahoma before she was fourteen. Maryann is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, studying architecture and interior design. She completed her graduate work at Parsons School of Design in New York City.
Combining their talents and interests, Maryann and Jodie, started Hoffer Furniture Company in 1978. Currently, Jodie serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Hoffer Furniture, Inc. and Hoffer Furniture Rental, Inc. Maryann has turned her interests toward entrepreneurial initiatives with investments in the technological, educational and health industries. She has also served as an interior designer of her own design firm for over twenty years.
Giving back to the community has been a long and on-going involvement of the Hoffer family. Both Jodie and Maryann have served on numerous boards and committees of charitable, educational and culture institutions. Jodie served on the Republican National Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. and founded two publicly held companies, Cort Furniture and co-founded Group Maintenance America.
Jodie has volunteered in the capacity for the American Cancer Society and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He is listed on the Excellence Program at the University of Houston, the University of Texas and is affiliated with Lamar University in Beaumont.
He has served as committee member to the Houston Livestock Show, encouraging aid to students in animal husbandry. Maryann and Jodie helped co-found the Gladys Gibson Scholarship in teaching at the University of Oklahoma, and a similar program at Baylor and Lamar Universities.
Jodie was finance chairman for the March of Dimes and was a board member of Theater Under the Stars and served on the board of trustees of the Houston Grand Opera. He assisted the Child Abuse Center, the House for Battered Women, the Houston Symphony, the Juvenile Diabetes Association, and St. Joseph's Hospital in their respective efforts.
He served as aid to L'Alliance Francaise, the Italian Cultural Center, the Wortham Theater, the Birthing Center at Ben Taub Hospital, the Shriner's Crippled Children's Hospital and takes great pride in working with the Greater Houston Partnership. He and his wife were The Cancer League honorees benefiting the John Stehlin Foundation and recently he co-chaired the annual Golf Tournament at Kingwood for the Boy Scouts of America.
He is currently working with the Mental Health Organization where he founded the "Furniture Bank" which has housed and furnished 2,000 homeless families.
Jodie is a firm believer that, as a business and family man in our great city and making a successful living from the community, that "one must give back. Giving back is what makes a difference in the quality of life for everyone."
Maryann has also been an active supporter of civic and cultural institutions. Her first love was the March of Dimes and has served on the board and chaired numerous events including the Arts & Science Achievement Dinner honoring Dr. Jonas Salk. She served on the Board of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for several yeas and chaired the "Salute to Style" Gala. She was Chairman of the Bastille Day Ball for L'Alliance Francaise Cultural and Language School and recently the Symphony Scores Dinner Series benefiting Ima Hogg National Young Artists Competition.
Maryann has served on countless committees and boards of the Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, St. Joseph's Hospital, Houston Symphony Guild, Citizens for Animal Protection and the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
She enjoys helping her husband, Jodie, entrepreneur the Furniture and Home Bank for the Homeless of Houston and the Mental Health Organization.
She has received the Outstanding Houstonian Award by the A.C.R.S. Foundation. She was honoree as Pacesetter of the Year by the Cancer League and honoree at the March of Dimes "Teen Clinic" benefit for Ben Taub Hospital. Most recently, she was honored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as Houston's "Woman of Distinction, 1997" for her civic and cultural contributions.
We are grateful to Jodie and Maryann for the significant support they have given to Baylor College of Medicine and the Huffington Center on Aging. Jodie has a special interest in the center's success through awareness and special funding. Maryann currently serves on the HCOA Development Board. Maryann is also a member of Baylor 10, an organization devoted to raising funds for BCM research, education, and service.
Maryann Hoffer states that "I would encourage people to be involved in focusing on the future of the less fortunate." Our hope of ourselves and our families lies around us in those who are in need. Helping others brings us joy and accomplishment. I enjoy being part of a volunteer team to achieve a common goal. Along with my family and friends, it's the challenge and sharing that's important in my life."
In addition to their many civic and business responsibilities, Maryann and Jodie have four children and twelve grandchildren.
Houstonians, young and old alike, are indeed fortunate to have such civic-minded, selfless persons as Jodie and Maryann Hoffer live among us.