It is with a great deal of sorrow and sadness that I report Master Chief Rick Hoffmann's 2-year fight with Leukemia is coming to an end. Rick's wife Janice Hoffmann contacted me this morning and asked that I inform his friends and OT colleagues that Rick is "going home to be with God, his parents and family and friends who have gone before". Janice also says that Rick "fought the good fight and he never gave up!"
Rick and I were friends for 45 years. Thanks in part to social media we were able to keep in very close contact over the years and especially during the last 24 months as he was in and out of Johns Hopkins research facility and Walter Reed medical center for testing and chemo treatments.
I will update with any additional information when it's available.
I was so deeply saddened to hear about Rick. We served together at Argentia 1977 to 1979 and have great memories of his clever analysis skills and most of all his humor and laughter during slow mid-watches. My most heartfelt sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.
