Commander Herbert Wellington Hoefer, Jr. of 4132 Pinehaven Court, Columbia, South Carolina, died at peace and surrounded by his family Saturday evening, November 14, 2015. His Rosary will be said at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov 16 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Columbia, South Carolina. Afterwards, the family will receive visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William T. Toal, 2418 Wheat Street, Columbia, S.C. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Tuesday, November 17 at 11:00 a.m., officiated by Monsignor Richard Harris, Vicar General of the Diocese of Charleston. Leevy’s Funeral Home, Taylor Street Chapel is assisting the family. His remains will be buried at sea, and the latitude and longitude of his final resting place will be memorialized on his marker at the side of his mother and his father in the graveyard of Our Lady of the Hills, Columbia, South Carolina. Born in Columbia June 22, 1951, Cmdr Hoefer was the son of the late Herbert Wellington Hoefer and Lilla Farrell Hoefer. He was the grandson of Frederick Augustus Hoefer and Sophie Schmidt Hoefer of Columbia and of James Edward Farrell and Jean McCallum Farrell of Atlanta. He was educated at Georgetown Preparatory School and Dreher High School. In 1974, he received his BA from the Citadel, where he was a member of the Summerall Guards, acclaimed for its Prussian high step and German close order drill known as the “Citadel Series.” Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy and served on active duty on the USS Saratoga. Following active duty he served in the US Naval Reserve unit in Columbia. S.C. until retirement. He was recalled to active duty, piloting reflagged tankers through the Persian Gulf during the crisis of 1986-87. He was a broker for Tom Jenkins Realty and served as an investigator in the Office of the 5th Circuit Solicitor. Upon his return from the Persian Gulf, he entered the University of South Carolina School of Law and received his JD in 1993. He was a member of the South Carolina, Richland County, Charleston County, and U.S. Military Court of Appeals bars. He practiced law with Attorney Jack Swerling, the S.C. Department of Social Services Office of Child Support, and the 9th Circuit Public Defender’s Office. His memberships included: St. Joseph’s Church, Columbia Silica Sand Company Board of Directors, The Rifle Club, The Harbor Club, V.F.W. Posts, Isle of Palms and Columbia. Cmdr. Hoefer is survived by his beloved daughter, Mary Tresca Hoefer, his sisters, and brothers-in-law—Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal and William Thomas Toal, Lilla Hoefer Hackett and Dr. Jeremiah M. Hackett, Dr. Ann M. Hoefer and Dr. H. Benjamin Bradburn, Christina Hoefer Myers and Dr. James T. Myers, and by his friend Dorothy Blount. He is also survived by a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and cousins—all members of the Hoefer Family he loved so dearly. His pallbearers will be led by his classmate, Captain Charles Peberdy, USN (Ret.) and his best friend since childhood, Cantey Wright; honorary pallbearers will include members of the Citadel Class of 1974 and his cousins. Herbert Hoefer was a man of old fashioned manners and values. He was devoted to his God, his Catholic faith, his family, his friends and the United States of America in whose Navy he so proudly served. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church or The Citadel Class of 1974 Alumni Fund in his honor.
Posted in: The State
Posted on: 2015-11-16
Link to original obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestate/obituary.aspx?n=herbert-wellington-hoefer&pid=176518741&fhid=8964#sthash.miKA2dS3.dpuf