Alan David Wofford
February 18, 1941 - June 26, 2023
Alan David Wofford departed on Monday, June 26th, after a nine month battle with lymphoma. His two loving daughters were at his side. We are grateful to have had this magnificently smart, strange, funny, loving, thoughtful, sensitive man in our lives.
Al is survived by his wife of 55 years, Estrellita “Lee” Wofford, his daughters, Jenifer Wofford and Camille Wofford-Howard, his son in law, Tony Howard, and his sister, Jane Wofford-Allen.
Al was a small town California kid who lived a big international life. Born in 1941 to David and Mickey Wofford in San Bernardino, Al and his sisters Jane and Martha were raised in Southern California until moving to Humboldt County, where he attended Fortuna Union High School. An exceptional student, Al was awarded a scholarship to Stanford University, where he majored in engineering. Post-college, he enlisted in the Navy, spending time in Vietnam and acquiring a sense of life abroad.
He was working on a project in Thailand when he met Lee Magboo, who was en route back to the US from the Philippines. She was visiting her brother Sonny who was also working there, and so all the foreigners in town became friendly. Al began courting Lee after they both ended up in the Bay Area; Al for grad school at Stanford, Lee for nursing work and to be with her sister Lety.
In 1968 Al and Lee married. Al’s work took them to New York, Okinawa and San Francisco, where Jenifer was born. Al’s work for Caltex Oil then relocated the Woffords to Hong Kong, where Camille was born, and to Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. The family returned to the Bay Area in 1985, settling in Walnut Creek.
Al was quietly unconventional. He had an absurd, dry sense of humor and a deep love of history books, comics, classical music, and classic vehicles. He savored a beautiful view, a good meal, a fine wine, an old steam train, a dense history tome. He was an avid bicyclist who enjoyed riding up Mt Diablo, as well as a diver, swimmer, skier, tennis player and weight lifter. He loved all manner of puzzles. He was savant-like in his knowledge of technical, historical or literary minutiae.
He was so good at tending to things: gardens, vehicles, structures, and people. He loved his fruit trees; he carefully restored his legendary Mercedes 300SL and then his Volvo 544. He was an extraordinary, devoted husband to Lee. He supported his daughters in their unconventional life choices without judgment. He gave them a global childhood and outlook: as they grew up, restless and in search of their own adventures, he always encouraged them to go have them.
Whenever Al gave a toast, he would raise a glass, and declare, visibly choked up, “To absent friends.” We hope that you will raise a glass in his honor, too.
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