Isadore Hoffer was born April 8, 1921, in New York City, the son of Morris and Rose (Schwartz) Hoffer. His father, Morris, worked as a painter, and both parents were "Russian-Jewish" immigrants from Romania. The family lived on Ludlow Street in Manhattan. Isadore had two older siblings: Bessie, born 1915, and Harry, born 1918 (and died before 1925). The father, Morris died July 1, 1923, when Isadore was two years old, and his mother, Rose, supported her two remaining children by working as a seamstress.
In 1925 Rose Hoffer petitioned for U.S. citizenship in the Southern District Court of New York, and only mentioned her children Bessie and Isadore on the application..
By 1930 Isadore's mother, Rose had married again, to Jacob Edelstein. He was a Polish immigrant who worked as a cutter in the garment industry. The family (along with Jacob's son, Morris) lived on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx.
During World War II, Isadore enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army on November 5, 1942, in New York City. He stated that he had a grammer school education, that he was "single with dependents", that he was 5'9" tall, and weighed 161 pounds. His civil occupation was described as "semi skilled machine shop and related occupations."
Prior to his death, Isadore was living in Brooklyn, New York.
Isadore Hoffer died March 5, 1993, and was buried on Hart Island.
Sources: U.S. Social Security Death Index; U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; U.S. WWII Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; New York, Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 (Rose); 1920 and 1930 U.S. Federal Censuses; New York, State Census, 1925.