End of a Chapter

Memorial site: John Harold (Hoppy) Hopkins

Beginning with a simple telephone call from Tom Lazio who was the director of the American Home Finding Association a new chapter had opened in my quest to locate my parents & all of my natural siblings.  That call came on July 30th, 2009.  Shortly thereafter came that unexpected telephone call when John informed me that he had been diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer and was given 6 months to 2 years to live.  He had asked his Oncologist if he could live 5 years with treatment and was told that he would have a 1 out 100 chance of living that long.  John came very close to beating those odds by living until December, 2014.

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2014 5:29pm

John called to tell me that his Oncologist had had given him only 6-12 weeks to live. He informed me that he had been told that his body was too weak and that chemo-therapy could no longer be administered. He said that his weight was down to 158lbs. John & Sandy met with hospice at their home today and they would be returning on Monday. We discussed me stopping through to visit on our way back from Iowa City after the Iowa Hawkeyes play Northwestern on Saturday, November 1st, 2014

Saturday, December 6th, 2014 3:07pm

I received a telephone call at from Sandy Hopkins telling me that John had passed away about 10 minutes prior to her call.  John has been a resident of  Mercy Hospice House, Room #12, 315 18th Ave, Hiawatha, IA since Monday, November 10th, 2014. I asked who was with him and she said her mom and sisters.  She told me that they been praying together and had just finished reading Psalms 23 when he quietly passed away.

God blessed me with the privilege of getting to meet and spend time with my brother John over a 5 year span of time; I am grateful for that – Through those years we grew close to each other and Becky & I had many opportunities to spend time with John & Sandy.  My most recent visit with John before his death was on Wednesday, November 26th, 2014.  Although John was not capable of carrying on a fluent conversation I was able to talk to him and show him some pictures of my family that were on my phone that I thought that he would enjoy. Before I left I was able to read from the scriptures and pray with John & Sandy.  I will be forever grateful for that final visit.

John’s funeral was on Friday, December 12th, 2014.  Pictured below is a dear friend, Shirley Wiggins, my sister Shirley (Bush) McKinney, and me.  Shirley Wiggins was a friend of our family and the namesake of my sister Shirley.

Mouse-over/click to enlarge image below.