Katharine McL. “Kitty” Hoffman, a former Garrison Forest School riding instructor who served with the Red Cross in the Pacific during World War II, died of a heart attack June 14 at the Brightwood retirement community in Brooklandville.

She was 96.

“Kitty was upbeat and interested in all sorts of things, but Garrison Forest was her great love,” said Barbara Sealy Mallory “Bunny” Hathaway, a longtime friend who lives in Owings Mills.

“She had great style and was very bright,” said another friend, Aurelia G. Bolton of Brooklandville.

The daughter of Richard J. Curzon Hoffman Jr., a business consultant, and Ethel Lee Hoffman, a homemaker, Katharine McLane Hoffman was raised on Cliffholme Road in Green Spring Valley.

Miss Hoffman and her sister, Ethel Hoffman, were attending Bryn Mawr School when their mother enrolled them at Garrison Forest in 1932.

After graduating from Garrison Forest in 1937, Miss Hoffman and her sister traveled. With the outbreak of World War II, she joined the Red Cross and was stationed in New Guinea, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies — now Indonesia — and Japan. She served in the recreation and social activities division.

After the end of the war, she returned to Baltimore and worked for an insurance company, then for Mary Louise Marty, an interior designer.

“Kitts had a great sense of style,” said Mrs. Bolton.

In 1943, her sister returned to Garrison Forest to teach horseback riding and in 1960 was named head of the school's riding department. When her sister died in 1963 after being struck by a car on Reisterstown Road, Miss Hoffman stepped in to continue her work.

A major component of Garrison Forest's riding program in those years was fox hunting. This came naturally to Miss Hoffman, who was an expert rider and fox hunter.

“Kitts never missed a chance to go fox hunting and, at heart, she was a rider,” said Mrs. Bolton. “Garrison Forest was really a riding school, and most of the girls who came there wanted to go fox hunting.”

The Green Spring Valley Hounds used to meet Thursdays, and Miss Hoffman would have the horses loaded in the van and sandwiches ready. Classes ended at 1:30 p.m., and the girls would attend meets that began promptly at 2 p.m.

It was not unusual for her young riders to take jumps and traverse the course where the annual Maryland Hunt Cup steeplechase is held each April.

“Oh, we hunted those fences; if the damned fox goes that way, we go that way!” Miss Hoffman said in an interview with Garrison Forest officials some years ago.

“One time, I had six kids behind me, and we came across Tufton Avenue, headed toward the 18th fence, and I hear, ‘Can we jump it?' ‘Feel free!' I said, and I took the fence myself. And you know what? They all jumped it. But … they were all on good, sound jumping horses,” said Miss Hoffman.

“She was a marvelous riding teacher and taught my youngest daughter how to ride. Sometimes they would ride through our woods, and we'd set out jumps for them,” said Mrs. Hathaway.

While she could be a demanding teacher, Miss Hoffman was also an encouraging one, according to former students.

After retiring in 1978, she remained a presence on the Garrison Forest campus. She was active in alumnae relations and attended annual class reunions, in addition to her own.

“Kitty used to have her fingernails painted in two shades of blue — which are Garrison's school colors — or sometimes she'd have polka dots painted on them,” said Mrs. Hathaway. “You never knew what she'd do.”

Miss Hoffman had known every head of school at Garrison Forest — there have been nine during its history — including Mary Moncrieffe Livingston, a teacher who came from New York to found the school in 1910.

Miss Hoffmann “is our oldest living alumna and has been with the school 85 years,” said Deanna Gamber Urner, Garrison Forest's director of development and a 1985 graduate of the school.

“She has been a loyal and devoted alumna, and the lives that she touched [are] just amazing,” Ms. Urner said. “Her mind and memory were sharp to the end. She kept up with the times. She was so proud to be a part of our community.”

Ms. Urner said that alumnae would line up to speak with Miss Hoffman at reunions.

“They lined up because they wanted to have some time with Kitty. She had kept up with them through the years, and she did it person to person. She did not use email,” she said. “She was a social creature through and through.”

A resident of Brightwood since 2007, Miss Hoffman gave her Cliffholme residence to Garrison Forest School. In 2012, the school established the Ethel and Katharine Hoffman Riding Endowment, with the mission of supporting the school's riding program.

Miss Hoffman enjoyed attending dinner parties. While sipping her favorite drink, bourbon, she held guests spellbound into the wee hours with an endless supply of stories, including tales about her cousin, Walter Lord, author of “A Night to Remember” about the sinking of the Titanic.

“She was a wonderful lady,” said Rob Deford, a second cousin who is president and a co-owner of Boordy Vineyards.

“One of my fondest memories of ... is she and my father singing harmony, leaning on the mantel with a cocktail in hand,” said Mr. Deford, who lives in Hydes. “She belted out Christmas carols in perfect harmony.

“She was a fun person to have around,” he said. “She had a great life, and I am glad that I knew her.”

Miss Hoffman enjoyed reading, traveling and eating at Petit Louis Bistro in Roland Park. She also attended the annual steeplechase races until this year.

“Kitty had a great enthusiasm for life, and she was an example for us all,” said Ms. Urner.

She was lifelong communicant of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 232 St. Thomas Lane, Owings Mills, where funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

In addition to Mr. Deford, she is survived by many nieces and nephews.

frasmussen@baltsun.com