Wooster, Ohio Daily Record obituary. from original submitted by Frances Hopkins Irwin with input by siblings and in-laws.
December 8, 2007
INGLESIDE AT ROCK CREEK, Washington, D.C. -- A memorial service for
Harriet Painter Hopkins, who was born and grew up in Wooster, will be held
Sunday, Dec. 30, at 2:30 p.m. at Lakewood Presbyterian Church. She died of
heart failure at the age of 97 on Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, at Ingleside at
Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. After living more than 60 years in
Lakewood, Ohio, she moved to Washington in 1999 to be close to her
children.
She was born on March 24, 1910, the daughter of Harriet (Hattie) A. Drake
and Walter E. Painter and the youngest of four sisters. She first met her
future husband, W. Dean Hopkins, at Bloomington [note: this area of Wooster was originally a separate suburb] Reading Circle and got to
know him on the debate team at Wooster High School. She was married May
30, 1936, in the house on Cleveland Road that was in the Painter family
for most of the 20th century.
She was dedicated to The College of Wooster of which she was a 1932
graduate. In 1978, she and her husband received the Distinguished Alumni
Award for their service to the college. In 1993, she became an honorary
life member of the Board of Trustees. As the mother of five children, when
asked whether she had ever worked, she laughed. She would then note that,
if the person meant paid work, she joined the college alumni office in
1933 and served as acting alumni secretary from 1934-36.
She was active in Presbyterian Church, USA, international exchange and
peacemaking. She was a member of Lakewood Presbyterian for 70 years and
one of the first women to serve as an elder of the church. She was a
leader in regional church and related organizations in Cleveland during
the 1970s and 1980s, serving as president of Western Reserve Presbyterial
and of West Side Ecumenical Ministry. She and her husband were active
members of Western Reserve Presbytery's Swords into Plowshares Committee.
She was also an original trustee of One World Shoppe in Rocky River.
Travel is the way we learn, she said. One experience she and her husband
particularly treasured was living for the month of May 1979 with the Rev.
Dudley Cooney and his mother in a Tipperary village as part of the
Ecumenical Parish Exchange with Ireland sponsored by the Synod of the
Covenant. They also made study trips to the Middle East, Nicaragua and the
Soviet Union and traveled to see their children, whether studying in
Scotland, working in Germany, or serving in the Peace Corps in Sierra
Leone and Fiji.
They stayed in touch with many people they met in their travels and hosted
international guests in their home and at the Hopkins family farm near
Savannah. They welcomed participants in the Cleveland International
Program from 10 different countries during the 1960s. Andrew Freris from
Athens, Greece, spent 1961-62 with the family as an American Field Service
exchange student.
Her husband, a co-founder and partner of the McDonald Hopkins law firm in
Cleveland, was a trustee of The College of Wooster from 1940 until he died
in 1993. Eight of their children, their spouses and grandchildren
graduated from the college.
Survivors are children and their spouses, Angene and Jack Wilson of
Lexington, Ky., Frances and Will Irwin of Bethesda, Md., Walter P. and
Rosie Hopkins of Crook of Devon, Scotland, Lewis D. and Susan Hopkins of
Urbana, Ill., Giles P. and Robbins Hopkins of Bethesda. Her grandchildren
and their spouses are Miatta Wilson, Cheryl and Rick McElroy, Amanda and
Tim Wilkins, Neil Sowerby, Kathrine Sowerby and Stuart Gurden, Joshua and
Amy Hopkins, Nathaniel and Jamie Hopkins, Teague Hopkins, Devon Hopkins;
and great-grandchildren, Erin and Allison McElroy, Lily, Frances and Eric
Gurden, Alex and Mary Hopkins.
Her sisters, Sarah Painter, Florence Griffith and Miriam Palmer, died
previously.
Burial will be in Savannah, Ohio. Memories can be e-mailed to
Memorial gifts may be made to W. Dean and Harriet Painter Hopkins
Scholarship Fund, The College of Wooster, Wooster 44691; or Lakewood
Presbyterian Church, 14502 Detroit Ave., Lakewood 44107.
**************
Obituary: Harriet Painter Hopkins, worked for social justice - cleveland.com
Friday, December 28, 2007Alana BaranickPlain Dealer Reporter
Harriet Hopkins, who died Nov. 5 at age 97, participated in peace and
social-justice programs, invited international guests to stay at her Lakewood
home and gained firsthand knowledge of world cultures on her travels around the
globe.
A memorial service will be held Sunday at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.
Hopkins was 75 when she joined thousands of peace demonstrators who encircled
the Pentagon, Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and other Washington landmarks with a
15-mile-long string of tapestries called the "ribbon of peace." The
demonstration in August 1985 commemorated the 40th anniversary of the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
"We would only hope that our vision for peace and nuclear disarmament could be
shared by our political leaders," Hopkins told The Plain Dealer before she and
her husband, W. Dean, traveled to the event.
Earlier that year, the couple visited Nicaragua for 10 days with Swords Into
Plowshares, a peace and justice program sponsored by the Presbytery of the
Western Reserve. They were concerned about U.S. policy in the Central American
nation.
Hopkins, whose maiden name was Painter, was born in Wooster. She graduated in
1932 from the College of Wooster, where her father taught. She and her husband,
a 1930 graduate, received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1978 for their
service to the college.
During their nearly 50 years in Lakewood, they often were hosts for foreign-born
people visiting Cleveland through the Cleveland International Program. They also
spent time in Ireland through an ecumenical parish exchange program and went on
study trips to the Middle East, Latin America and the former Soviet Union.
They also traveled to such places as Sierra Leone, Fiji, Afghanistan, Turkey,
Germany and Scotland to see their children, who were in foreign lands studying,
working or serving in the Peace Corps.
Hopkins was a past trustee and volunteer of the One World Shoppe in Rocky River.
She held leadership positions with the regional Presbyterian Church, Western
Reserve Presbyterial Association and West Side Ecumenical Ministry. She was
among the first women to serve as an elder at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.
Her husband, a lawyer and longtime member of the Lakewood school board, gave
annual readings of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at the church. He died
in 1993. The couple had been married 56 years.
Wooster, Ohio Daily Record obituary. from original submitted by Frances Hopkins Irwin with input by siblings and in-laws.
December 8, 2007
INGLESIDE AT ROCK CREEK, Washington, D.C. -- A memorial service for
Harriet Painter Hopkins, who was born and grew up in Wooster, will be held
Sunday, Dec. 30, at 2:30 p.m. at Lakewood Presbyterian Church. She died of
heart failure at the age of 97 on Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, at Ingleside at
Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. After living more than 60 years in
Lakewood, Ohio, she moved to Washington in 1999 to be close to her
children.
She was born on March 24, 1910, the daughter of Harriet (Hattie) A. Drake
and Walter E. Painter and the youngest of four sisters. She first met her
future husband, W. Dean Hopkins, at Bloomington [note: this area of Wooster was originally a separate suburb] Reading Circle and got to
know him on the debate team at Wooster High School. She was married May
30, 1936, in the house on Cleveland Road that was in the Painter family
for most of the 20th century.
She was dedicated to The College of Wooster of which she was a 1932
graduate. In 1978, she and her husband received the Distinguished Alumni
Award for their service to the college. In 1993, she became an honorary
life member of the Board of Trustees. As the mother of five children, when
asked whether she had ever worked, she laughed. She would then note that,
if the person meant paid work, she joined the college alumni office in
1933 and served as acting alumni secretary from 1934-36.
She was active in Presbyterian Church, USA, international exchange and
peacemaking. She was a member of Lakewood Presbyterian for 70 years and
one of the first women to serve as an elder of the church. She was a
leader in regional church and related organizations in Cleveland during
the 1970s and 1980s, serving as president of Western Reserve Presbyterial
and of West Side Ecumenical Ministry. She and her husband were active
members of Western Reserve Presbytery's Swords into Plowshares Committee.
She was also an original trustee of One World Shoppe in Rocky River.
Travel is the way we learn, she said. One experience she and her husband
particularly treasured was living for the month of May 1979 with the Rev.
Dudley Cooney and his mother in a Tipperary village as part of the
Ecumenical Parish Exchange with Ireland sponsored by the Synod of the
Covenant. They also made study trips to the Middle East, Nicaragua and the
Soviet Union and traveled to see their children, whether studying in
Scotland, working in Germany, or serving in the Peace Corps in Sierra
Leone and Fiji.
They stayed in touch with many people they met in their travels and hosted
international guests in their home and at the Hopkins family farm near
Savannah. They welcomed participants in the Cleveland International
Program from 10 different countries during the 1960s. Andrew Freris from
Athens, Greece, spent 1961-62 with the family as an American Field Service
exchange student.
Her husband, a co-founder and partner of the McDonald Hopkins law firm in
Cleveland, was a trustee of The College of Wooster from 1940 until he died
in 1993. Eight of their children, their spouses and grandchildren
graduated from the college.
Survivors are children and their spouses, Angene and Jack Wilson of
Lexington, Ky., Frances and Will Irwin of Bethesda, Md., Walter P. and
Rosie Hopkins of Crook of Devon, Scotland, Lewis D. and Susan Hopkins of
Urbana, Ill., Giles P. and Robbins Hopkins of Bethesda. Her grandchildren
and their spouses are Miatta Wilson, Cheryl and Rick McElroy, Amanda and
Tim Wilkins, Neil Sowerby, Kathrine Sowerby and Stuart Gurden, Joshua and
Amy Hopkins, Nathaniel and Jamie Hopkins, Teague Hopkins, Devon Hopkins;
and great-grandchildren, Erin and Allison McElroy, Lily, Frances and Eric
Gurden, Alex and Mary Hopkins.
Her sisters, Sarah Painter, Florence Griffith and Miriam Palmer, died
previously.
Burial will be in Savannah, Ohio. Memories can be e-mailed to
Memorial gifts may be made to W. Dean and Harriet Painter Hopkins
Scholarship Fund, The College of Wooster, Wooster 44691; or Lakewood
Presbyterian Church, 14502 Detroit Ave., Lakewood 44107.
**************
Obituary: Harriet Painter Hopkins, worked for social justice - cleveland.com
Friday, December 28, 2007Alana BaranickPlain Dealer Reporter
Harriet Hopkins, who died Nov. 5 at age 97, participated in peace and
social-justice programs, invited international guests to stay at her Lakewood
home and gained firsthand knowledge of world cultures on her travels around the
globe.
A memorial service will be held Sunday at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.
Hopkins was 75 when she joined thousands of peace demonstrators who encircled
the Pentagon, Capitol, Lincoln Memorial and other Washington landmarks with a
15-mile-long string of tapestries called the "ribbon of peace." The
demonstration in August 1985 commemorated the 40th anniversary of the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
"We would only hope that our vision for peace and nuclear disarmament could be
shared by our political leaders," Hopkins told The Plain Dealer before she and
her husband, W. Dean, traveled to the event.
Earlier that year, the couple visited Nicaragua for 10 days with Swords Into
Plowshares, a peace and justice program sponsored by the Presbytery of the
Western Reserve. They were concerned about U.S. policy in the Central American
nation.
Hopkins, whose maiden name was Painter, was born in Wooster. She graduated in
1932 from the College of Wooster, where her father taught. She and her husband,
a 1930 graduate, received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1978 for their
service to the college.
During their nearly 50 years in Lakewood, they often were hosts for foreign-born
people visiting Cleveland through the Cleveland International Program. They also
spent time in Ireland through an ecumenical parish exchange program and went on
study trips to the Middle East, Latin America and the former Soviet Union.
They also traveled to such places as Sierra Leone, Fiji, Afghanistan, Turkey,
Germany and Scotland to see their children, who were in foreign lands studying,
working or serving in the Peace Corps.
Hopkins was a past trustee and volunteer of the One World Shoppe in Rocky River.
She held leadership positions with the regional Presbyterian Church, Western
Reserve Presbyterial Association and West Side Ecumenical Ministry. She was
among the first women to serve as an elder at Lakewood Presbyterian Church.
Her husband, a lawyer and longtime member of the Lakewood school board, gave
annual readings of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at the church. He died
in 1993. The couple had been married 56 years.
