Emily Hoffman had a deep passion for learning that led her to a life full of adventure both personally and professionally. Emily was born in Pittsburgh on May 8, 1988 to parents Bob Hoffman and Chris Tyndall and older sister Beth. She was living in the same neighborhood she grew up in at the time of her death. She was a proud 2006 high school graduate of dear ol’ WT (Winchester Thurston), where she was a lifer and senior yearbook editor. In high school, Emily began the first of many global adventures, which included Broadreach sailing and scuba diving trips to the Caribbean and Egypt.
Emily was perhaps the biggest fan of the TV show The West Wing, which motivated her to study criminal justice at Northeastern University. While an undergrad, Emily completed co-ops at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Justice, and Sea Semester in the Caribbean. After graduation, she worked in the Boston Public Defenders Office before hiking the Camino de Santiago in 2013. She then pivoted to sailing, starting as a deckhand at the Flagship Niagara League and working her way up to day sail coordinator for the Erie Maritime Museum. While at Niagara she began experimenting with computer programming, which led her to Tech Elevator’s Pittsburgh coding bootcamp in 2019. She then worked as a software developer associate for PNC Bank before moving to IAM Robotics.
Additionally, she spent a winter dog sledding with Siberian huskies in Vermont and she and her sister went to Australia in 2008 to scuba dive. Emily also enjoyed weekend walks in Pittsburgh’s beautiful parks, but always made time to cuddle with her pets (particularly her handsome cat Sheldon) and help her sister with fostering kittens. Each summer she loved going to the Jersey shore to spend time on the beach and in the ocean.
Tragically, Emily was hit by a car while walking home on February 9, 2023. The impact of the accident resulted in a traumatic brain injury followed by a series of strokes, and on February 16 her family honored her wish to be an organ donor and took her off life support on February 17. In addition to having an organ donation designation on her driver’s license, Emily’s sister Beth knew of her wish to not live hooked up to machines and to be an organ donor because they had discussed it while watching an episode of ER about organ donation together. Beth now teaches a college course on Entertainment Media and Health, where she shares this story in the hopes of encouraging students to talk about their wishes with their families. Organ donation is also close to Emily’s entire family because Emily’s cousin Karin received a heart and lung transplant at age 12, allowing her to live until age 28. Her Uncle Jeff has also had 2 corneal transplants, and her parents and sister are all registered organ donors too.
Emily died in the hospital operating room as the song “For Good” played from Wicked, surrounded by her parents, sister, and friend Jenn. Her liver and both kidneys were donated to three middle aged men, allowing them to live better, longer lives. In addition, Emily’s left cornea gave the gift of sight to a 9-month old baby boy.
Watch “A Celebration of Life” service for Emily.
Submitted on behalf of: Beth Hoffman (sister)