Posted by Newspaper Transcriber on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 14:38:36 :

James R. Hopkins

James R. Hopkins, a 42-year El Granada resident, died peacefully on Sept. 5 in a Tremonton, Utah, hospital, due to natural causes. He was 80.

Mr. Hopkins was born in San Francisco on April 19, 1926, the third of three children of James and Hollie Hopkins. During World War II, he served with the U.S. Navy as a radar operator for two years toward the end of the war, in the Pacific theater.

He lived in San Francisco, and on April 14, 1951, married Donna Mae Beaulieu in Reno, Nev. Their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple in Utah a year later. They had five children and raised them in Pacifica, to which they moved in 1954, and in El Granada, where they moved in 1962.

Mr. Hopkins worked as a journeyman cable splicer for PG&E for about 35 years until retirement in 1986.

"He enjoyed helping other people," said Mr. Hopkins' son, David Hopkins of Concord. "He was a good man."

Mr. Hopkins enjoyed gardening and working outside in his yard, After retirement, said his daughter Annette Jones of Tremonton, "he raised some beautiful bearded irises that were his pride and joy."

"He had a whole gardenful of them," said his son.

Mr. Hopkins also liked to go hunting in the Trinity National Forest with friends, camping with the Boy Scouts - he was a scoutmaster, and was briefly involved with 4-H - or family.

"He loved his family and liked to gather with them often," said his daughter.

Mr. Hopkins is preceded in death by his wife, Donna, who died in 1999, and his sister, Ruth Wirgler.

He is survived by his children and their spouses, David and Lanette Hopkins of Concord, Annette and Glen Jones of Tremonton, Jim and Laurie Hopkins of Liberty township, Ohio, Tom and Cindy Hopkins of Haines City, Fla. and Gordon and Kim Hopkins of Tooele, Utah, 22 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister, Gladys Hopkins, of San Francisco.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 22 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 475 California Ave. in Moss Beach.

Half Moon Bay Review and Pescadero Pebble, Wednesday, September 20, 2006