Joan Mary Hoffmann

Joan M. Hoffmann, age 79 of Franklin, Minnesota passed away on March 20, 2025, at Cedar Heart Homes in Franklin. Visitation will be on Thursday, March 27, 2025, from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm at Sturm Funeral Home, Sleepy Eye Chapel with a Rosary at 3:30 pm and a Prayer Service at 3:45 pm prior to the visitation. Per her wishes, a funeral mass will be held at St. Peter Church in Mendota, Minnesota on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 11:00 am with visitation one hour prior to the service. The service will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/@churchofst.peter-mendotamn3776/streams. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

On August 1, 1945, a girl was born to Marcella (Kral) and Sylvester T. Hoffmann. She was their 9th child and 6th daughter. They named her Joan Mary. She grew up on a farm outside Sleepy Eye, Minnesota with her sibling playmates. In 1963, she graduated from Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s High School, where she had developed a devout Catholic Faith and played saxophone in the band. She tried college for a while at Stout in Wisconsin, but eventually returned to Minnesota to work 40 years at the VA in Mpls/St. Paul. She started in the laundry and then spent most of her career as a groundskeeper.

But before she started her job, she hitchhiked one summer in Europe with her sister, Marcy. Her love for travel persisted with her eventually seeing the Holy Land, Bogota (visiting Sister Theresa), besides road trips West to the Black Hills, Yellowstone, camping in Montana, New Mexico several times (visiting Cat), Charleston, SC at azalea time, and New Orleans twice. She was always ready to jump in the car and go places. (Except Jack Pot).

She was the fun Aunt Joannie who treated her nieces and nephews to many adventures. There were Twins games, plays, outings at the Arboretum, State Fair trips and more. She usually had a kite in her car, just in case. She also gave many gifts to the kids.

It’s fitting that she passed on the first day of Spring because she loved plants. She was a Master Gardener in Dakota County for many years and frequently volunteered at the Arboretum and church yards keeping the flowers beautiful. She especially liked roses but could identify and care for many others. She had an eye for beauty that was demonstrated in her clothes and jewelry. She also liked thrift store shopping and collected many beautiful items and could have used a bigger apartment in Highland Park where she lived for many years. She was a record keeper and had a desk calendar filled with events and memories. She was always ready to meet for lunch or have coffee. Her Catholic Faith was very important, too and she prayed the rosary daily. She was a fantastic sister, aunt, and friend. Thanks for the memories.

She will join her parents; siblings, Sister Gloria, Vic, Fritz, Tom, Sister Gertrude, Margaret, and Annie; sisters-in-law, Elaine and Mary Jane; and brother-in-law, Frank Bode. Left to miss her are siblings, Sister Theresa Hoffmann, Catherine (John) Jarmer, Marcella Bode, and Martin Hoffmann; and sisters-in-law, Bernadette Hoffmann and Mary Hoffmann. She lived the last 2 years of her life at Cedar Heart Homes in Franklin, Minnesota.

“And when her breath was done,

She took up her simple wardrobe

And started for the sun.”

May the angels lead you this day into paradise, Joannie, and may you be glorious!

Love, Your Family