Longtime St. Anthony Park resident Dorothy Hopp celebrated her 100th birthday on Nov. 6 with her children Susan Hopp and Tom Hopp, along with other family members and close friends.
Born Dorothy Louise Gade on Nov. 6, 1916, she was raised on a cattlefeeding farm outside Seward, Neb. She was the oldest of three kids, and according to her daughter Susan, grew up hard working, active, inventive and artistic. She met Ralph Hopp at a dance at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, in 1938. Also farm raised, he was a perfect match and they married in 1941.
Dorothy Hopp graduated with degrees in food and nutrition and interior design. Her first job was as a home supervisor for the Farm Security Administration.
After living in Lincoln; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; and Nebraska again as Ralph worked on his doctorate, the University of Minnesota Libraries hired Ralph in 1953 and the family settled at 1341 Keston St. in St. Anthony Park, where they raised their three children, Caroline, Tom and Susan, and spent summers car camping throughout the United States.
The family spent 1962-63 in Ankara, Turkey, where Ralph was a Fulbright lecturer. In February 1963, the Hopps’ daughter Caroline died in an airplane crash over Ankara. She was 18 and a freshman at Robert College in Istanbul.
Dorothy Hopp was extremely active in area organizations and volunteering throughout her life, including the U of M Faculty Women’s Club, where along with serving on numerous committees, she was president in 1973-74. The Hopps sold their Keston Street home in 1985 and after a year in Colorado, they moved into 1666 Coffman on Larpenteur Avenue, where Dorothy still lives. Ralph Hopp died in 2003.
