Obituary

John Gregory Hoeschler of St. Paul, MN died Wednesday, June 22, 2022, in his home, embraced and celebrated by his family. His body was depleted by advanced prostate cancer.

Jack was born in La Crosse, WI February 4, 1942, to an athletic, exciting, and hands-off family, which made him an independent thinker and “do-er” throughout life. He was an excellent student in his hometown schools before he ventured off to Georgetown University.

Jack was an outstanding scholar and athlete throughout life, curious about people and ideas, ready to listen, ready to expound. At Georgetown he was invited to the elite Honors program and named the Robert Duffey Scholar-Athlete of 1964, the first oarsman in Georgetown history to be so honored. He won a Root-Tilden scholarship to NYU Law School—a full, three-year ride awarded to no more than 20 students a year across the 10 Federal Circuit Court Districts.

He married Linda Lovas Hoeschler, a New Yorker, in August 1966; their union of strong, like minds was wholly committed to family, community, and the arts. After law and graduate school they worked as Vista volunteers on Chicago’s South Side where Jack joined others to change the “system” as he defended the underdog and activists and sued predatory institutions. These experiences formed the charter for much of his later work in life. The couple and baby daughter, Kristen, moved to St. Paul in 1968, where Jack joined Doherty Rumble and Butler, Minnesota’s oldest law firm.

He rapidly grew DRB’s real estate practice and left the firm on friendly terms to start his own practice in 1982. Clients and lawyers praised his efficient, creative application of law to develop simple, elegant solutions. Jack’s interest in everyone allowed him to connect respectfully with people from all stations of life. Among his favorite clients were immigrants, whom he counseled pro bono. He seldom turned away anyone who needed help.

Jack was a civic activist. As chair of the St. Paul Riverfront Corporation, he spearheaded re-orientation of the city toward the Mississippi; he coordinated legal and financial resources for historic preservation of Rice Park (Ordway, Landmark and the St. Paul Hotel).  His ardent board memberships included the Science Museum of Minnesota (the new 1978 museum was nicknamed, “the house that Jack built), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Humanities Commission, Minnesota Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Guthrie Theater (30 years), Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota Dance Theater, Citizens League, Viterbo University (La Crosse), Library of Congress, and World Press Institute.

Jack and Linda’s personal passion was support of individual visual and performing artists whom they counseled, hosted at home art showings and recitals, and whose artworks and music they commissioned to celebrate life’s highlights—not only Jack and Linda’s but of friends and acquaintances, too. Jack formed a music commissioning club on the model of an investment club, to involve others in Hoeschlers’ personal passion for new music; the Minnesota Commissioning Club has become a model for artist support throughout the nation.

Among numberless interests, including poetry, voracious reading from his extensive personal library and scholarly articles about the issues of the day, Jack devoted countless hours to “moss wrangling” and oversight of the Hoeschlers’ well-known Japanese garden surrounding their St. Paul home.

With Linda, Jack was a world traveler many times over—they led their family on frequent trips, foreign and domestic. A highlight was the family’s six-month adventure around the globe in 1986-7.

Jack’s best and favorite role was as a loyal husband and actively involved father and grandfather, Dad to Kristen Hoeschler O’Brien (Terry) and Frederick “Fritz” (Julia), and superlative grandfather to Jack and William O’Brien, his “guys.” While Jack was in hospice the “guys” appeared daily, sang, played violin and relived their many athletic expeditions, cultural trips and ongoing lectures with their beloved grandfather.

We will celebrate Jack’s life, 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 22, at St. Olaf Church in Minneapolis.

The Hoeschler family extends its deepest appreciation to our friends and family who fed and comforted us through Jack’s 13-month decline, plus Jack’s magnificent HealthPartners caregivers, particularly Drs. Balkrishna Jahagirdar and Kelly Frisch. Donations in Jack’s honor may go to the Cancer Research Fellowship fund (which Jack helped inaugurate) c/o Regions Hospital Foundation; his beloved Georgetown University crew; the World Press Institute; local arts organizations; or any cause that “pays it forward” to help others have a better, more meaningful life.

Minneapolis StarTribune and St Paul Pioneer Press, June 26, 2022

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St. Paul Attorney and Civic Booster Jack Hoeschler dies at 80

A Fighter for Underdogs and Artists

by Frederick Melo, St. Paul Pioneer Press, June 24, 2022

At St. Paul City Hall, some saw John Gregory “Jack” Hoeschler as the proverbial legal foil — a relentless attorney who returned to court, year after year, to press similar claims against the city on behalf of churches, nonprofits and homeowners concerned about their street assessments. Others considered him an important civic voice and arts maven who brought crusading zeal rather than legal remove to the many causes he fought for.

His 11-year legal odyssey against the city’s right-of-way charges would reach the Minnesota Supreme Court, which largely saw things his way in 2016.

Over the past 13 months, Hoeschler faced a far more difficult challenge against advanced prostate cancer. He died Wednesday in his St. Paul home, surrounded by family. He was 80.

He is survived by his wife, Linda Lovas Hoeschler, as well as a son, daughter and two grandsons.

“Just a giant, such a giant in so many fields,” said St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince, who called Hoeschler a friend and mentor. “He was the first chair of the St. Paul Riverfront Commission, where he worked hard to connect the city to the river. His contributions to the arts are legendary. He was such a principled fighter for the taxpayer and the general welfare of the city. I’m going to miss him and keep him in my heart.”

Hoeschler, who was born in La Crosse, Wis., in February 1942, was a celebrated student and oarsman at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he was named the Robert Duffey-Scholar Athlete in 1964. He received a “full ride” Root-Tilden scholarship to attend the New York University School of Law, and later married a New Yorker who shared his appreciation for community and the arts.

In the mid-1960s, the two worked together as VISTA volunteers on Chicago’s south side, where Hoeschler sued predatory institutions on behalf of community advocates. He frequently appeared in areas with strong gang activity to vet community concerns.

“I’ve never known anyone who needed less approval than Jack, or who tried to do the right thing without waiting for direction or help, sometimes to his own detriment,” said his wife, in remarks prepared for his eulogy. “Often Jack would go to a community meeting in a notorious project high-rise, returning at midnight or after. I asked him if the residents thanked him for coming, for risking his life, as I saw it. ‘Linda,’ he stated, as if it were obvious, ‘If you never expect to be thanked, you’ll never be disappointed.'”

In 1968, the couple moved to St. Paul, where Hoeschler joined Minnesota’s oldest law firm, Doherty, Rumble and Butler and rapidly grew the firm’s real estate practice. He started his own practice in 1982, frequently counseling immigrants pro bono, or without charge.

As chair of the St. Paul Riverfront Corporation, he worked to reorient the city toward the Mississippi River, and coordinated legal and financial resources for the preservation of downtown Rice Park and its surrounding institutions. In 1978, some nicknamed the new Science Museum of Minnesota “the house that Jack built,” and he was equally involved with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and many other arts and cultural institutions.

Hoeschler and his wife formed a music commissioning club modeled after an investment club, inviting others to invest in their passion for new music. They also maintained an elaborate Japanese garden together surrounding their St. Paul home. In 1986 and 1987, they led their family around the globe on a six-month traveling adventure.

A Tough Gentleman Lawyer

In the late 1980s, Eric Nilsson found himself on the opposite side of the courtroom from Hoeschler in a years-long legal fight over a failed commercial development at the downtown Union Depot.

“For the next several years, Jack and I just battled each year,” Nilsson recalled on Friday. “It turned out to be one of the most rewarding professional experiences I ever had as a lawyer. I learned to appreciate Jack for this incredible intellectual courage and originality. He was a gentleman, and he had a wonderful sense of humor. We became good friends, and it proved to me someone could be a zealous advocate for their client and stay civil and professional. And you don’t see that very often in the process of law nowadays.”

St. Paul real estate investor John Mannillo found himself on the opposite side of the table from Hoeschler in 1981 when he sold the downtown Pioneer building to First National Bank, which was represented at the time by Hoeschler.

“Even though he was on the other side of the issue, I respected him,” said Mannillo on Friday. “He was a person of great integrity. He looked out for the underdog on a number of things. And he was a fighter. He was tough. Usually you saw him standing up to government — the city — when it was not treating its constituents fairly.”

A celebration of life is planned for 10 a.m. on Aug. 22 at St. Olaf Church in Minneapolis, with a reception to follow at the Minneapolis Club across the street.

Donations in his name will be accepted at Regions Hospital Foundation’s Cancer Research Fellowship fund, Georgetown University crew, the World Press Institute, local arts organizations “or any cause that ‘pays it forward’ to help others have a better, more meaningful life.”

Compassion and Respect

by M.L. Kluznik, St. Paul Pioneer Press Letter to the Editor, June 30, 2022

I mostly knew Jack Hoeschler through our Friday luncheons at the Downtowner ("A gentle fighter for the underdogs and artists," June 27). He had a great curiosity about so many things. I once lent him a lengthy audio book on the history of the British empire. He liked it so much that he bought his own copy.

Also, he was witty. He humorously explained the finer distinctions between the various angels in the nine choirs of angels of the Roman Catholic Church. I learned the dif­ferences between the seraphim, cherubim, archangels and others in the heavenly pan­theon. Such knowledge will serve me well in the event I should ever meet up with any of that crew of heavenly creatures.

Jack had a great love of nature and enjoyed leading friends and acquaintances on tours of the Japanese garden that he and Linda cared for in their backyard As the garden's official ''Moss Cowboy," he was the self-appointed seeker and finder of wild moss for the garden. There is a deeply spiritual aspect and artistic aesthetic to Japanese gardens. That spirituali­ty and love of art was an important part of Jack.

Jack often showed kindness and compas­sion toward others who were needy and less fortunate. He once told me about the young man who had climbed out of the ravine in Hoeschler's backyard and showed up nearly naked at the back door one cold autumn eve­ning. The young man was cold and shivering. He may have had some serious personal issues, or perhaps he had been taking who­-knows-what street drugs. In any case, Jack took him in, gave him some blankets for warmth and then called the young man's father, who gratefully came and picked up his troubled son. I'm not sure how I would have handled that situation, but Jack handled it with great compassion, and he showed deep respect to a fellow human who was struggling with life. What a mensch! It was such a privi­lege having known Jack, as I did.