Her father was a merchant and realtor who served as an alderman and court tipstaff "whose accounts of courtroom dramas fascinated his daughter.

[2] Soffel graduated as valedictorian from Central High School and received her Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honors in 1908 from Wellesley College, where she played on the field hockey team.

[3] For the next five years[4] she taught Latin at the Central, Schenley, and Crafton public high schools in Pittsburgh and additionally coached basketball at Central High School, where she proudly declared that hers was the finest girls' basketball team in western Pennsylvania in 1911.

She graduated at the top of her class, which according to custom meant the school would award her a cash prize and a teaching appointment.

[7] In November 1941, Soffel became the first woman elected to Alleghany County's common pleas court, which handled major civil and criminal cases.

Her most controversial ruling happened in 1946, when she issued an injunction to limit picketing during a United Steelworkers national strike, a decision later upheld by the state supreme court.

Her recreational pursuits included fishing, climbing mountains, and watching baseball (she was a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates).