Genealogy.com: Ancestry of Jimmy Hoffa

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Jimmy Hoffa

Arguably the century's most adamant labor rights leader, Jimmy Hoffa has, in death, loomed as large as he did in life. That life began on February 14, 1913 in Brazil, Indiana. His father was a coal miner who died in 1920, leaving his family in near poverty. In the early 1930s, Hoffa took a job as a dockworker and by age 17 had organized his first successful labor strike. After negotiating better contracts for his fellow dock employees, Hoffa emerged as powerful force in the Depression-era labor movement. In 1935 he became president of the Detroit chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). He served in that capacity for more than 30 years while openly admitting ties to the local mafia. Hoffa served four years of jail time before President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence in 1971. Upon his release, Hoffa sought reinstatement with the IBT and had scheduled a lunch meeting with two Detroit crime bosses. Hoffa was last seen on July 30, 1975 waiting in the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant. He was declared legally dead in 1983.

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