John Walter Hopkinson

John Walter Hopkinson, 84, of Pasadena, California, passed away on April 4, 2019.

He was born on December 9, 1934, to George Isaac Hopkinson and Mary Bellamy in Yorkshire, England.

John lived the first three decades of his life in the U.K. At the age of 13 he contracted tuberculosis and was not expected to live, but after sixteen months he recovered and returned to his studies. He graduated from Royal Technical College, Salford in Manchester with a degree in chemistry and went on to work as a chemist for several years.

He came to the U.S. in 1965 to attend Ambassador College in Pasadena, CA, where he met his wife Patricia Skeels, and where they married in 1967. In the U.S. he found new interests in history, etymology, geology, astronomy, and travel. After being employed at Ambassador for eight years, he began a new career in computer science which took him to UCLA, McDonnell Douglas, and Countrywide Financial.

After retirement, he continued to find new interests including machine shop and ceramics. Italy and the deserts of the American Southwest were two of his favorite travel destinations, as well as “home,” the green hills of Yorkshire. More than anything, John’s lifelong passion was to be surrounded by music, and he especially loved singing.

John is survived by his wife of 51 years, Patricia, two sons, Jonathan and Jeremy, a daughter Elizabeth, and a grandson, Marcello. In the U.K. he is survived by two sisters, Annie and Sheila, and a brother, Arthur, along with many nieces and nephews.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

— Minnie Louise Haskins