John Leon Hoffman Sr. (1889-1982) was born to Paul Mark Hoffman (1865-1932) and Lula Pearl 'Nannie' Maddox (1871-1936) in Waverly, Alabama, in 1889. Paul Hoffman was a nurseryman and fruit tree farmer. Leon had two younger siblings: Alline (1892-1969) and Culver William (1893-1987). In 1907 Leon Hoffman married Carrie Delle Mayberry (1891-1989) in Muscogee, Georgia, and they had three children: Loring Westmoreland (1908-1929), John Leon Jr. (1916-1992), and Anne Adelaide (1919-1994). Hoffman, landscape engineer and architect, began his career in 1916 at C.A. Dahl Co., a florist and nursery. By 1920 Hoffman had opened his own business, John L. Hoffman & Co. The company later became John Leon Hoffman, Inc. Planning Consultants in Forsyth County, Georgia. The firm worked on both commercial and residential projects in Georgia, Florida, and Texas. Some notable projects include: Wesleyan College and Johnston-Felton-Hay House in Macon, Georgia, and Fuller E. Callaway Jr.'s Hills and Dales Estate in LaGrange, Georgia. Hoffman married his second wife, Evelyn W. Fleming (1910-2003) in 1932 and they had one daughter. He was a member of the American Planning and Civic Association, National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Planning Officers. Leon wrote two books on landscape design and horticulture, 365 Happy Days in the Garden and The South: The Land of Flowers, and edited the periodical Southern Gardening.