Joseph Soffer


Joseph Soffer was an American real estate developer and philanthropist.

Early life and education

Soffer was one of four children born to a Jewish family in 1913 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, the son of Lena and Jacob Soffer. His parents were immigrants from Eastern Europe. His father owned a grocery store where he worked as a teenager. He had three siblings: Sylvia Chotiner, Harry Soffer, and Ruth Pressman. Soffer graduated from Duquesne High School after which he started to invest in real estate by purchasing single-family homes and small apartment buildings. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps Transportation Command where he was stationed at Love Field in Texas.

Career

After the war, he formed Soffer Realty in McKeesport, Pennsylvania with his brother Harry. They built the Norwin Shopping Center in Irwin, Pennsylvania and operated the Baldoc Hills Golf Club also in Irwin. In 1960, he partnered with Benjamin Thorpe and built the 7-building Penn Center East in Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania - one of the first suburban office parks around Pittsburgh - which was unique at that time as it contained not only office space but also retail and residential. The project was completed in 1964, the same year he established the Soffer Organization. In 1985, he completed a similar project named Penn Center West in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania. He remained as chairman of the Soffer Organization until his death, which at the time owned 2 million square feet of office, retail and residential property in the Pittsburgh area.

Philanthropy and awards

While stationed in Texas, he joined the Masonic Order and the Shriners. In 2004, Soffer received a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. He also supported a number Jewish charities as well as the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Symphony. He and his wife established the Violet and Joseph Soffer Foundation and Family Special Olympics at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh.

Personal life

Soffer was married to Violet Gusky, a native of Braddock, Pennsylvania whom he met while on leave from the Army. The couple lived in Squirrel Hill until his death on June 13, 2016 at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland. Services were held at the Tree of Life Congregation and he was buried at the Temple B'nai Israel Cemetery in Versailles, Pennsylvania. They had two sons R. Damian Soffer and James Lee Soffer. His son R. Damiam is the current CEO and president of the Soffer Organization.
Soffer belonged to the older generation of Pittsburgh real estate developers - such as Edward J. Lewis, Jack Buncher, Stanley Gumberg, and Leonard Rudolph - who conducted business with a handshake. Soffer believed that the key to his success was taking advantage of opportunities: “Just remember one thing: You can't catch the same streetcar twice."