David Leroy Hopkins

David L. Hopkins 10/23/1924-11/7/2014 David was a longtime resident of San Diego, living in Del Cerro and Pacific Beach. He was the youngest of five boys, born in Billings Montana to Florentine and Arthur Hopkins. David entered the Army in July 1943, served in WWII and was discharged in April of 1946. He graduated from Montana State University in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. In that same year he started working for General Electric. He worked for GE 22 years, gaining many life-long friends. In 1971 he started working for San Diego Gas & Electric and retired as a manager in distribution engineering after 22 years. He married his sweetheart, Carol Burklund, on October 21, 1950 and had 64 wonderful years together. They had six children, Joan, Kathryn, Donna, James, Tina and Laura; and nine grandchildren, Marie, Richard, Matthew, Christopher, Ryan, Brandon, Joshua, Tyler and Samantha. He was preceded in death by three of his brothers, Howard, John and James. His brother, Reverend Richard Hopkins lives in San Diego. David was a big supporter of Foundation Fighting Blindness, KPBS and Walk San Diego. His interest in Foundation Fighting Blindness, previously known as the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation, was mainly due to his own eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) which was prevalent in his family. He was an integral part of the organization’s San Diego chapter for seven years and with the help of his daughter, Joan, held the role of President for two of those years. He stopped driving at an early age due to the disease but that never slowed him down. He and Carol moved from Del Cerro to Pacific Beach where it was relatively easy to walk to a bus stop or catch a trolley. His interest with Walk San Diego stemmed from all of those long walks. He found the nighttime lighting in San Diego was insufficient and he wanted to make it safer for people to walk at night. One of his many passions was running. He loved running the track at Patrick Henry High School, down to the beach and at Mission Bay, anywhere really. Still running into his 60’s, he completed a marathon. He passed this passion on to his daughters, Kathryn and Laura who ran several 10 and 5k’s with him. Another of his favorite interests was traveling. He took many exciting trips to Central/South America and Peru with his wife Carol and his sister-in-laws, Wilma Timmons and Marian Burklund. He went on two tandem biking tours, one with daughter Tina to Holland and one to Germany and Austria with daughter Donna. He traveled with his granddaughter Marie in Germany, commenting later on her great sense of direction. He also went on a train through Canada with his brothers Richard and James. His largest adventure by far, at age 70, was a three-month, eight-country adventure through South America with one of his best friends Jim Stegall. They called themselves Los Dos Bastones Blancos, the two white canes. The trip was intended as a great adventure but to also raise awareness of the disabled and to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. It was a success as both men came home in one piece, raised money for their favorite charity and had many, many great stories to tell their families. David loved the Arts. An outing to Copley Hall, listening to the San Diego Symphony was one of his favorite things to do. He subscribed to the concert series for many, many years and would often generously treat his children to a performance. The Old Globe was another of his favorite venues. His son James took him several times. David really cherished their time together watching one of the wonderful plays the Old Globe had to offer. In 2007 he graduated from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, CA and received a guide dog, Katie. Katie was his best friend and walking companion until his death. She was with him at the end giving him the endless kisses he deserved. David was always happy. He loved life, had a wonderful sense of humor, was gregarious and had a great sense of adventure. He was a great role model, very generous and always supportive to his children and a wonderful, sweet and playful “Papa” to his nine grandchildren. He is very special to each and every family member. He will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers or gifts, you may donate to David's favorite charity, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, in memory of David L. Hopkins Foundation Fighting Blindness P.O. Box 17279 Baltimore, MD 21297-0495 800-683-5555 www.FightBlindness.org