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HAS A DEATH OCCURRED? WE ARE AVAILABLE 24/7 CALL Minneapolis (612) 200-2777 or duluth (218) 208-0377




Obituary of Elsa Rosemary Hofmeister
ELSA ROSEMARY HOFMEISTER
Hofmeister, Elsa Rosemary. Age 86, passed away of natural causes in her home at Carondelet Village, St. Paul, January 23, 2025. Elsa was surrounded by family and close friends during her last earthly days and was with her loving daughter Elizabeth at the hour of her passing. Survived by daughter, Elizabeth (Dave) Marshall; sons, Franz (Jeannie), and Joseph (Teresa); 12 grandchildren; 6 great grandchildren. Preceded in death by her loving husband of 63 years, Donald, a brother and sister, and a son, Andrew. Memorial Mass of Christian Burial 11:00 AM, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 at Basilica of St. Mary. Visitation one hour before service; lunch follows. Private burial. Memorials to Visitation School, Mendota Heights. Condolences: cremationsocietyofmn.com
A livestream of the service will be available to watch at mary.org. Click on “Livestream” in the top right corner.
Elsa was a dynamic force of nature who generously extended her love of life to family and many friends across her 86 years. Above all else, Elsa was a clear and intentional communicator, rarely without meaningful thought or colorful commentary to contribute to any conversation. She used her considerable communication skills to cement a loving marriage with her Donald, to raise an articulate family of four kids, to work as a lifelong educator, and to become a published author.
Elsa was blessed with a dynamic personality and a character capable of expressing dual – and often contradictory – natures. That ability to embrace and to deploy differing skill sets showed up again and again throughout many phases of her life. Despite these real or apparent contradictions, her passion and drive to get things done well and quickly, mated with a forceful intellect, allowed her to know when to express one strength and when to subdue another. Repeatedly throughout her life, Elsa deftly employed her multiple skill sets to achieve accomplishment beyond the ordinary. To those who knew her best, there was nothing ordinary about her. She lived a truly extraordinary life.
Elsa was born on June 14, 1938, just four months after her father, Greg Thompson, died in a tragic car accident. That crash left Elsa and her two siblings, Ann and Greg, to be raised by their loving mother, Evelyn Thompson (Carlston). Elsa was raised in this single-parent household in the Incarnation Parish neighborhood of South Minneapolis, during and just after World War II.
Elsa was a lifelong student and learner. She was a self-described ‘poor student’ in primary school, yet she went on to attend and excel at the prestigious private Convent of the Visitation High School. It was at Visitation that the nuns recognized her uncanny intellect and a passion for living that simply needed channeling. Evidently, those nuns did well: Elsa went on to graduate with a Masters in English from Mankato State University, and to devote her entire professional life to the field of education.
This young lady who expressed great interest in boys went on to pour her heart into a single devoted love relationship that lasted for 63 years of marriage. Elsa was married to Donald Hofmeister one week after she turned 19. She and Don were blessed with a deep and abiding love. Their life together was filled with adventure, compassion, and faith. From this union, Elsa and Don had four children in four years: Elizabeth, Andrew, Franz, and Joseph, with the last born just prior to Elsa’s 24th birthday.
Elsa and Don spent every summer with these four kids camping “Out West,” living in tents set up in the Badlands, the Black Hills or the Bighorns. Though Elsa’s upbringing had not prepared her for even this more mild form of pioneer living, she threw herself into the art of homemaking with gusto. Wherever the tent was set, Elsa made it home for her young family with her playful antics and banter. She rarely complained about the loss of the comforts of her home back in Minnesota. Her melodious voice often broke into song – pulling from a considerable repertoire of classic songs, silly ditties, pop music of the day, or inventions of her own. Elsa was the emotional center of her family. She offered and received hugs and kisses multiple times daily, always open to a tender moment with any child, though she maintained high expectations of her children and made those known. No matter where she and her Don landed, they worked tirelessly to make the place homey and filled with love.
When the children were all off to elementary school, Elsa determined to further improve herself by attending college. She enrolled at Mankato State University and began her undergraduate studies while her youngest was in kindergarten. In an era before daycare was a well-established industry, she enrolled in courses and simply brought baby Joe with her to classes. Don and the rest of the family did all they could to support Elsa’s ambition to advance her education and prepare for a job outside the home.
After graduating summa cum laude from Mankato, Elsa began a 30-year career in education. Initially, she taught English and Religion at New Prague’s St. Wenceslaus Catholic School. When teaching Religion at St. Wenceslaus, many New Prague schoolchildren would comment that she was not like any religion teacher they had ever had. Many students stated that ‘She made religion class fun.’ Elsa chalked this up to knowing what it was like to be a bored student. She understood that she needed to command the attention and earn the interest of the least invested of her students in order to get through to all of them.
After many years in the classroom, Elsa became a school guidance counselor. This work seemed to play to her strengths the most of all of her jobs. After counseling work in New Prague, she hit her stride as a guidance counselor in Lakeville Junior High school. She was fascinated by the Junior High phase of students and believed those few years to be the crucial period when kids decide to either engage in or reject education as a path to growth in their lives. Elsa had walked that line herself and recognized the transformative power of love and attention from an educator. For many years, her primary professional purpose was to channel the promise of children by offering the wisdom gained in her journey, expressed through the force of her own personality. Elsa influenced the lives of many students across New Prague and Lakeville through her considerable ability to connect with just about anyone.
In a final professional advancement, Elsa was selected to serve as the Upper School Administrator at Visitation Schools, her alma mater. Having worked in the classroom and in counseling for nearly 30 years by that point, she was able to insert hands-on experience into the administration of one of the most prestigious and rigorous private high schools of the Minneapolis-St.Paul area.
While at Visitation, Elsa became fascinated with the energy and purpose of the sisters – the nuns – at Visitation School and Monastery. She worked to understand what inspired these women to live the demanding life of a nun and to spend all their energies raising and educating the children of other people. This fascination became the genesis for Elsa’s published book Extraordinary Ordinary Lives (James Monroe Publishing). Through in-depth interviews with a dozen sisters in the order of St. Joseph, Elsa discerned the call that led these highly capable women to devote their lives to the service of others and to the Lord.
Elsa’s later years were, unsurprisingly, dedicated to family. She insisted on transitioning her relationships with her grandchildren from one of “grandmother” to one of “friend.” She didn’t want to be a dowdy, proper authority figure. She broke down the barrier of age and enabled a more authentic and equal relationship. Elsa had unique relationships with all of her grandchildren and found ways to forge connections with each of their individual interests. She delighted in witnessing her older grandchildren find excellent life partners and fervently hoped those love stories would be as vibrant and long-lasting as the one she and Don modeled. Elsa was thrilled she also got to meet six great grandchildren and prayed there would be many more.
The death of her beloved Don nearly five years ago, followed by the passing of her sister Ann and her brother Greg, and son Andrew shortly thereafter, eased Elsa’s feelings towards her own death. It is a comfort that she will be reunited with her lifelong sweetheart, her son, her siblings and her cherished mother, Gran. As her friends and family watched Elsa’s life unfold across the decades, no higher praise – or more accurate assessment – could be offered than to acknowledge that this ordinary person, Elsa Thompson Hofmeister, lived a truly extraordinary life.
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