Suzanne Cobb Hoffman

The artist Suzi Hoffman, 81, passed away in her home in Washington, DC, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The cause was metastatic lung cancer. She was a uniquely wonderful human being, filled with unshakable optimism, and a relentless desire to make the world more beautiful and more fun.

Suzanne Cobb, the daughter of Kenneth Wilson Cobb, Sr., a distinguished electrical engineer, and Lilias Reid Cobb, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 2, 1944. Most of her childhood was spent in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she graduated from Northwood High School. After studying Art History at Endicott College in Massachusetts, she settled in Washington, DC, where she worked as a hotelier, paralegal, and stockbroker’s assistant, as well as operating an independent art gallery.

While in DC, she also met her husband, Barry Hoffman, a performing arts executive. The couple fell in love quickly and deeply, marrying in 1974 only a few months after they met, and remaining together happily until Barry’s death in 2014.

The two of them moved often, to places including Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lake Placid, New York; Buffalo, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; Long Beach Island, NJ; and Paducah, Kentucky. Along the way, they founded and disbanded two marketing firms and collaborated on a hundred other ventures, including producing plays, mounting exhibitions, and staging large events. Their shared love of theater inspired her to write a one-man show and the book for two original musicals. Working as a copywriter and graphic artist, her dozens of clients included the National Zoo and the Prince George’s Publick Playhouse.

Wherever they went, she and Barry made deep and long-lasting friendships. The parties she hosted were frequent and legendary.

Eventually, she followed her greatest creative passion and settled into life as a full-time visual artist, often showing and selling her work in watercolor, ink, and acrylics. She was instrumental in strengthening local art associations in Paducah and Ocean County, New Jersey, spearheading the founding of successful collaborative galleries in both places.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, David and Kiryn Hoffman of Washington, DC; two grandchildren, Walter and Helen Hoffman; her brother, Kenneth Wilson Cobb, Jr., of Appleton, Wisconsin; and a wide network of friends and extended family around the country.

Her family suggests that memorial contributions can be made to the Pine Shores Art Association: https://www.pineshoresartassociation.org/