Rest in Peace, Tom Maus

by Bernard McCormick Monday, November 11, 2013 No Comment(s)

Maus & Hoffman family members
 photographed at their old 
Boca Raton store in 1998
In 1940 William Maus and Frank Hoffman opened a men’s clothing store on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Hoffman died in 1969. Maus lived until 1980.  He left behind an enlarged business that has become the oldest and most prestigious family-owned retailer in the area. He also left a fast-growing family that over three generations has flourished in other fields, its many members becoming distinguished citizens in several Florida cities.

One of the most important of that large clan, his son Tom, died Saturday at 78 after a long illness. Maus & Hoffman executives don’t emphasize titles, but Tom, his older brother, Bill Jr., and younger brother, John, jointly ran the stores in Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. A sister, Jane Maus Hearne, managed the store in Naples for many years.  

Tom Maus was just a boy when the family arrived in Fort Lauderdale, but he grew up in the family business, along the way attending schools that share his history. St. Anthony grade school and Central Catholic (now St. Thomas Aquinas High School) along with his wife, Judy. He and his two brothers went on to Notre Dame, which has a family of its own in South Florida, a large group of highly influential alumni.  

A friendly and gracious man, he was active for years in the Colee Hammock Homeowners Association and served on the board of the old Southeast Bank. His six children followed in his footsteps. His son Tom Jr. works in the original Fort Lauderdale store. A son Joseph is an attorney and former mayor of Oakland Park. His daughter Catherine is a prosecutor for the state attorney and president of the Victoria Park Civic Association. Son George is a bond salesman. Two other daughters, Mary and Susan, are married and live outside the area. All went to the same local schools as their father and grandchildren are following the same path.  

Almost to the hour of his death Saturday, his grandson Joseph (Joey) Maus, was helping St. Thomas Aquinas win its first state cross-country championship.  

“He made Papa proud,” Tom Maus Jr. said today.  

There will be a visitation Wednesday at Fred Hunter's Funeral Homes in downtown Fort Lauderdale from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m.  The funeral mass will be private, with a life celebration announced at a later date.

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