In this second column, I am speaking to Mr. William Hoffman who had a long career as chemist and plant manager at the Whitehall Cement Company, which is now Amrize. When Mr. Hoffman returned home from the Army, he worked for a year at the Lehigh Portland Cement Company near his family’s home in Fogelsville. His father was the plant chemist.

He remembered, “I wanted to go to college under the GI Bill and studied to become a chemist. I wanted to enroll at Lehigh University, but their admissions were filled.”

In 1947, many veterans sat next to college boys seriously intent upon catching up with the last four years. These serious veterans became an army of professional men, technicians, tradesmen and businessmen.

Unable to gain admission to Lehigh, Mr. Hoffman was accepted at the University of Maryland.

He said, “There were so many at the university that we were housed in WWII barracks. You felt you were still in the army. The bill gave us free tuition and a $75 a month stipend. The curriculum was very challenging. I was given one year credit for the time Army sent me to Johns Hopkins and Virginia Tech. I earned my degree in chemistry in three years, graduating in 1949.”

William continued, “Upon graduation I was interviewed for a chemistry position at three local plants; the Hercules in Stockertown, Lehigh Portland in Fogelsville and the Whitehall Cement Company in Cementon. The manager at Whitehall Cement was Mr. Arnold Hoke, a Swiss German, intelligent and very assertive. He offered me a laboratory technician position at the annual salary of $3,300. I accepted the salary, which was the standard rate in 1950.”

The chief chemist was William Mckenzie who had worked at the Lawrence Cement Company in Northampton. His assistant was an easy-going chemist named Harold Long. These men gave William excellent on-the-job training.

In 1960 when they retired, William was promoted to head chemist. Mr. Hoffman worked on many interesting projects and solved many challenging problems.

Mr. Hoffman especially remembered plant manager Mr. Dick Foster, a Cornell-trained engineer.

“He was intelligent and possessed the ability to manage employees. Highly respected, when a worker came late to work, Mr. Foster pulled the man aside not to embarrass him in front of his coworkers, saying, ‘Leave home earlier tomorrow; we need you at the plant on time.’”

Mr. Hoffman was promoted to assistant plant manager and later plant manager. The Whitehall Cement Company was purchased by General Portland of Dallas Texas. Mr. Hoffman was the first and last plant manager during their brief ownership of the Whitehall plant.

The plant was very attractive to investors during this period because the plant was being modernized by E. C. Machin, a local contractor. The plant was rebuilt with new kilns, bulk silos, raw mills and preheaters, making the cement process more efficient and profitable.

Whitehall was a one-plant operation, so there was no red tape or bureaucracy. If a decision was made, it could be implemented in a very short period of time. You did not need approval from numerous other committees and officials.

The LaFarge purchased the Whitehall plant in 1987, and Mr. Hoffman was their first manager. The plant today, Amrize, remains one of only five plants in the Lehigh Valley.

In two weeks, we will continue Mr. Hoffman’s odyssey in the cement industry.