Leo Hodroff was active in business, arts communities

He was state's first licensed Jewish funeral home director and an avid collector of Chinese porcelain.

By LAURIE BLAKE, Star Tribune

Last update: November 11, 2009 - 8:25 PM

Leo Hodroff, businessman, art collector and philanthropist, died Nov. 6 at age 92 of heart failure.

The first Jewish funeral home director licensed in Minnesota, Hodroff and his father owned and operated Hodroff and Sons Funeral Chapels in Minneapolis and St. Paul -- the only exclusively Jewish funeral homes in the state.

"He was a man of his word,'' said Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman of Temple Israel, who presided at Hodroff's service Sunday. She described him as an "impeccably dressed, beautifully spoken,'' gentleman. "He was an honest man with incredible integrity,'' she said. "He had very high standards for himself and for everyone else.''

Hodroff, born March 11, 1917, was one of three children. His parents, Abe and Lena Hodroff, lived in Minneapolis.

He began work in the family mortuary business at age 13 and had dreams of becoming an architect, but returned to work with his father after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1939.

In 1941 while at the mortuary, he launched a mail-order chemical company selling a line of embalming chemicals to funeral homes, churches and schools nationwide. He met his wife, Doris, when she took a job at the chemical firm.

Hodroff served three years in the Navy Air Corps in World War II.

After selling the funeral homes in 1980, Hodroff concentrated on managing apartment buildings under the name Morgan Management Co.

Always busy and immersed in his work, Hodroff "didn't really know how to play too much,'' said his wife. "He spent his life working and always looked after his family.''

He was a trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and served on the boards of directors for Mount Sinai Hospital and 4th Northwestern Bank (now Wells Fargo). He was one of the founders of the Jewish-Christian Learning Center at St. Thomas University. Recently, he and his wife created the Leo and Doris Hodroff Pavilion for Memory Care at Sholom Home West.

Last year, he established the Leo A. Hodroff Endowment Fund at the University of Minnesota program of mortuary science.

Hodroff and his wife lived in the Kenwood neighborhood of Minneapolis. They enjoyed boating on the St. Croix River and Lake Minnetonka and regularly visited Palm Beach, Fla., where they had a condominium.

Hodroff collected more than 4,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain made for export to Europe between 1600 and 1880. The collection is considered the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world. Some 300 pieces were exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1997.

He is survived by wife, Doris, nieces and a nephew.

Laurie Blake • 612-673-1711