Rochelle Hoffmann

Rochelle Joy Hoffman, 81, passed away on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in the embrace of her
family and under the kind care of Ecumen Hospice, at her Marquette Place home, from which
she could see the Loring Park building where she was born.
Rochelle was born on May 3, 1942 to Simon and Charlotte (Meshbesher) Weisman. She
graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1960 and the University of Minnesota in 1964
with a degree in English and art history. That same year, she married Gary Hoffman, her
sweetheart since she was 15. After the births of their sons, Brian and Peter Joshua, they became
business partners in Treasure's Island, a venerable Twin Cities store founded by Gary's parents
that furnished the bedrooms of three generations of Minnesota children. For several years they
also owned a store selling fine housewares, 118 East, which began at that address on 26 th Street
and later moved to the Nicollet Mall under Rochelle's management, with a branch in Ridgedale.
They also expanded Treasure's Island to a second store in Eagan, which Rochelle also managed,
and they were partners in Regalo, a juvenile products manufacturing firm.
In the 1980s they moved from Golden Valley to a townhouse on Lowry Hill. After Gary's
death in 2006, Rochelle turned to her lifelong passion for the arts. She became a docent at The
Museum of Russian Art, an institution devoted to the aesthetic history of the land of her
forebears. Her commitment, scholarship, and engaging warmth made her art tours attractions
unto themselves: visitors often returned to take them again. Her fellow docents became some of
her closest friends. When the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted museum tours, docents
continued to meet online and never stopped. She called her years with TMORA among the most
beautiful times of her life.
Until her December 2023 diagnosis of inoperable bile duct cancer, Rochelle regularly
walked five miles daily. In January, her excellent doctors at Hennepin County Medical Center
performed a successful temporary procedure, and she soon resumed her walks around the city's
lakes and downtown skyways. Thanks to HCMC, for nearly six weeks at the end of her life she
was gifted with an encore, including many meals with beloved friends and family.
Rochelle is survived by son Brian and daughter-in-law Pahoua Yang Hoffman of
Minneapolis; son Peter Joshua and daughter-in-law Zeynep Turan Hoffman of Brooklyn, NY;
brother Alan Weisman and sister-in-law Beckie Kravetz of Cummington, Massachusetts;
grandson Samuel Onat Hoffman; grand-niece Olivia Thanadabout whom she called
granddaughter; the extended Yang family she adored; many dear Meshbesher and Weisman
cousins; and friends she considered her kin.
Rochelle will be interred with her husband, Gary, in a private family burial at Lakewood
Cemetery. Donations in her memory may be made to The Museum of Russian Art, St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital, or Shriners Hospitals for Children.
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