Eric Hoffman

Eric Elija Hoffman,. a native of Dos Palos, California, died Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at a Hollywood hospital after an illness. He was 39. 

Eric had lived in Fort Worth, Texas, until he recently moved to Los Angeles. 

The son of Suzanne Hoffman and Nick Smoljan was born on May 24, 1986, in Fresno, California. He graduated from Dos Palos High School in 2004 and spent time in the Job Corps in Utah before returning to California. He attended Berkeley City College and later Houston City College, earning an associate degree in graphic design. 

Eric worked at a number of jobs, including at Walgreens and selling concessions at Houston Astros baseball games, before becoming disabled with a congenital back condition.

He was a digital artist and was an avid fan of the Power Rangers, singer Kelly Clarkson, Pokemon Go (he was a Day One player), and “The Simpsons.” He could recite the dialog of Simpsons episodes. 

Eric was fearless. He made it to the third round of “American Idol” in 2005 and even managed to get the better of an exchange of insults with Simon Cowell.

Eric had many high points in his too-short life. Among them: Helping Berkeley City College students get their delayed student aid; being quoted by the Washington Post after attending a rally in San Francisco celebrating the court ruling that struck down Prop. 8, allowing same-sex marriage to resume in California; meeting “his goddess” Clarkson backstage at a concert in Boise, Idaho; and helping their mom Vickie raise a litter of Great Pyrenees puppies.  

While wearing his blue Power Rangers outfit after meeting one of the cast, he made a small child’s day in a fast food restaurant when the child exclaimed, “It’s a Power Ranger!” 

The happiest day of his life may have been Oct. 15, 2021, when his parents walked him down the aisle and he married Darrell Goolsbee in Fort Worth, and the newlyweds danced to Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This.” 

Bubbly and optimistic, Eric was a joy to be around. He believed that everyone should nurture their inner child, and put that to practice his entire life.

Eric was preceded in death by his brother, Kyle Hoffman, and grandmother,  Alexina Enns. 

He is survived by his mother, Suzanne Hoffman of California; father, Nick Smoljan of Trapper Creek, Alaska; sister, Hala Costa of California; an aunt, Cindy Hoffman of Fresno; a niece and a nephew; his spouse, Darrell Goolsbee of Fort Worth; two dogs, Andros and Kai; a cat, Zhane; and a host of friends.

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