Jimmy Hoffa

 Jimmy Hoffa was born February 14, 1913 (108 years ago) in Brazil.  Brazil?  Yes.  In the town of Brazil...in the State of Indiana, USA.  Population at the time was about 9,000.  

Why is the town's name Brazil?  Well, in the 1840s, at the time of the town's origin, Brazil the country was in the news a lot (perhaps because of the many rebellions going on there), at least so the townspeople of Brazil, Indiana imagined.

As a teenager, Hoffa worked for a grocery chain, receiving low wages and poor working conditions.  Through his demonstrated courage and "approachability," he rose to a leadership position in a newly formed labor union.

When he left his grocery job in 1932, Hoffa was invited to become an organizer for the Teamsters Union.  In 1946, he was elected president of Local 299 of the union in Detroit, Michigan. 

By 1952, Hoffa was selected by Teamsters Union president Dave Beck to be their national vice-president.  Hoffa became president in 1957 when Beck was convicted of fraud and sent to prison.

In 1967, Hoffa himself went to prison after being convicted of bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud.  He stayed there until his sentence was commuted to time served by President Richard Nixon in 1971.

On July 30, 1975, at the age of sixty-two, Jimmy Hoffa disappeared forever.  He was last seen at the Magnus Red Fox restaurant on Telegraph Road in suburban Detroit.  For 46 years, Hoffa's disappearance has remained an unsolved mystery.  

I never ate at the Magnus Red Fox restaurant but I remember it well.  To me, it was quite a noticeable landmark driving past it many a time travelling between my ex-wife Bonita's sister's house in Bloomfield Hills and her father's home in Southfield.