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Hoffman retired from the newspaper in 2002 after 50 years of service. He covered Westchester County politics and was regarded as one of the region's top journalists.
Hoffman started his career in 1951 at Westchester County Publishers in White Plains, which later became part of The Journal News. He was also a columnist, metro editor and editorial page editor during different stages of his journalism career.
Hoffman was a graduate of White Plains High School, where he worked for the school newspaper and was a track and cross-country runner. He was the high school correspondent for The White Plains Reporter Dispatch, covering varsity sports and other news.
Following graduation in 1946, Hoffman served as a radioman with the amphibious fleet in the Navy. He later graduated from Champlain College in Plattsburgh, where he was on the track team and editor of the college paper.
During his career, he helped champion numerous causes in Westchester County, including the building of a new county medical center, a new courthouse, a safer parkway system, Westchester Community College, a new airport terminal, the creation of the Board of Legislators and many health programs.
"Milt Hoffman was a Westchester County giant who made a very positive impact on the county and town. He will be missed,'' said Paul Feiner, town supervisor of Greenburgh.
In his farewell column in The Journal News on Jan. 3, 2002, Hoffman wrote:
"During my time as a reporter, county and state government reporter, columnist, metro editor, editorial page editor and Editorial Board senior editor, I was guided by three principles. One of them is that our newspapers may be owned by a company, but the real proprietors are readers and their communities. Also, a reporter is creditable when he or she doesn't dwell on the mistakes that people make but also reports on the good they might do. Third, if you can't look the subject of a story in the eye, you've not been fair."
Later on in the column, he wrote: "Famed writer H. L. Mencken once said: 'I know of no human being who has a better time than an eager and energetic young reporter.' I'll leave it to others to gauge my eagerness and energy, but I'll tell you. I had a great time because I was what I always wanted to be: a newspaper reporter."
Hoffman received many community and professional awards, including the 2001 Peter Kihss Award of the Society of Silurians, the 1995 Deadline Club Award for editorial writing, and the 1990 and 1998 first-place awards for editorial writing from The Associated Press of New York State.
He was a past president of the Hebrew Institute of White Plains and served on its executive board.
He is survived by his son, Jeffrey, and granddaughter, Dana. He was predeceased by his wife, Judith.
The funeral will be held Thursday, April 9, at 10 a.m. at the Hebrew Institute of White Plains.
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