Phyllis Nadine Hopkins

Phyllis Nadine Hopkins, 97, of Summerville died December 12th at the Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande. Funeral services will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 22 at the Elgin Methodist Church in Elgin. Graveside services will follow at the Summerville Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Methodist Church in Elgin.

Phyllis was born on September 4, 1912, near Buhl, Idaho, to Orrin Lee Munn and Anna Hobson Munn while her parents from Baker County, Oregon were temporarily farming near Buhl. For the first two years of her life, she lived in a covered wagon while the family worked farm crops in Idaho and Washington. After returning to Baker County, the family homesteaded near Hereford, Oregon. During this period, her father drove the horse drawn stage between Hereford and Baker City.

Phyllis entered what is now Eastern Oregon University in La Grande after graduation from the Hereford High School. She earned her teaching certificate and began teaching at a rural school in Baker County immediately upon reaching her eighteenth birthday.
She married Albert Benjamin Hopkins on May 7, 1932 in Baker City, a marriage which lasted 71 years. Phyllis taught school for 45 years in Baker and Malheur Counties, Imbler, Union and Eugene. Her later years of teaching were in Havre and Billings, Montana. She earned her bachelor's degree from Eastern Oregon University and her master's degree from the University of Montana-Billings.

Upon her retirement, she returned to their farm near Summerville, which the couple had purchased during WWII. Phyllis enjoyed working in her garden and walking in the woods. She was a world traveler who made three trips around the world and visited some thirty countries including living two years in Thailand. At the age of 87, she made a three week trip to China and traveled up the Yangtze River. She was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the FCE Two Rock Study Group and various drama groups. She was also an active member of the Elgin Methodist Church.

Survivors include her two sons and their spouses, Doran and Francele Hopkins of Summerville and Gerald and Mary Hopkins of Summerville. She had four grandchildren, Frank Hopkins of Devine, Texas, Rene Marinelli of San Antonio, Texas, Angela Hopkins of Kalispell, Montana and Ann Fomuso of Killeen, Texas and ten great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert, two brothers and two sisters.
Memorial may be made to the Elgin United Methodist Church, PO Box 7, Elgin, Oregon 97827

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