Obituary of William G. Hofgard

Long-time Boulder community member William Glenn “Bill” Hofgard died July 30, 2020, of natural causes. He was 88. Bill was born Nov. 13, 1931, in Scottsbluff, Neb. to W. Sidney Hofgard and G. Pearl Hofgard. He graduated from Scottsbluff High School and attended Scottsbluff Junior College before going on to receive a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska in 1953. He married Edna Hampton in Gering, Neb. on Nov. 26, 1952. Bill entered the U.S. Army in 1954 as a second lieutenant and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain in February 1956. One month later, the couple moved to Boulder, where they raised their four children and Bill began his career in insurance. Designated a Charter Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant, in 1972 he founded the insurance and consulting firm Hofgard & Co., where Edna served as a corporate secretary for many years. Bill sold the property and casualty portions of the business in 1979. In 1986, Bill founded Benefit Plan Administrators, Inc., which just five years later was named to the Inc. 500 list, Inc. magazine’s annual recognition of the nation’s 500 fastest-growing companies. He and his son Mark Hofgard operated and grew the company for seven years. In 1992, they sold the company to California-based Admar Corp. He also taught an insurance course at the University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business. He sold part of Hofgard & Co. to his long-time manager James Marsh in 2007, and with his son, Kurt, an attorney, co-founded Hofgard Insurance, a life, and disability agency. Bill was named to the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame in 2014 in recognition of his long and distinguished career. He was always deeply involved and active in the community. Among his many service positions, he served as president of Boulder County United Way, on the Boulder County Estate Planning Council, and as a board member of the Colorado Association of Life Underwriters, Boulder Community Hospital Foundation, Boulder Hospice Foundation, and Boulder Community Foundation. He also served as treasurer for the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, trustee of First Presbyterian Church of Boulder, and a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. He was a long-time member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, First Presbyterian Church, Boulder Country Club, Boulder Kiwanis, Boulder Rotary, and the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. Bill Hofgard truly grew up with Boulder in the latter half of the 20th century. He was friends with the founders of McGuckin Hardware and involved with some of the county’s notable early tech firms, including StorageTek and Micromotion. Throughout his life, Bill always had time for everyone. Whether they were rich or poor, young