Sr. Eleanor “Ellie” Hoffmann, OP, died April 7, 2025, at St. Dominic Villa, Hazel Green, Wis. Her funeral services will take place Monday, April 28, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. at the Racine Dominican Motherhouse, 5635 Erie Street, Racine, Wis. Miller Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
She was born May 3, 1933, to Jum and Frances (Hickey) Hoffmann in Lincoln, Ill. She made profession with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1954 and received the religious name Sister Francesco. She earned her BS in education from Edgewood College, Madison, Wis., and her Master’s in religious education from Loyola University of Chicago, Ill.
Sister Ellie’s ministry was dedicated to teaching, pastoral care, and preaching. In Wisconsin, she taught at St. Anne School, Wausau, and served as CPE at St. Luke Hospital and was pastoral associate at St. Matthew Parish, both Milwaukee. She served the Sinsinawa Dominican congregation as vicaress provincial of the eastern province and in vocation ministry and ministered as spiritual director and retreat leader at the Dominican Motherhouse, Sinsinawa Mound. In Illinois, Sister Ellie taught at St. Bernard School, served as associate director of the Peoria Diocesan Office of Education, and was pastoral associate at St. Mark Parish, all Peoria. She was principal at St. Clare School, Bloomington. She then served as pastoral associate at St. Columba Parish in Ottawa, St. Anthony Parish in Bartonville, and St. Patrick Parish in Rockford. She was a mentor for many Dominican Associates of Sinsinawa. In 2023, she moved to Stair Crest Senior Living Community in Muskego, Wis., and continued her Dominican mission of hospitality, befriending everyone she met before eventually moving to the Villa.
Sister Ellie was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Rich Hoffmann. She is survived by a brother, the Rev. Robert Hoffmann; a sister-in-law, Carol Hoffmann; nieces and nephews; grandnieces and grandnephews; and her Dominican Sisters. Memorials may be made to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, 585 County Road Z, Sinsinawa, Wis., or given online at www.sinsinawa.org/donate