Marine Veltrop Hopkins

Marine Veltrop Hopkins died November 6, 2018 at 99 years of age. She was born in Folk, Mo. March 10,1919, the third of six children of Martin Veltrop and Mary Massman Veltrop. After graduation from Westphalia High School, she moved to St. Louis for twenty years and worked as a seamstress and a bookkeeper. There she met and married Vance Hopkins on December 8, 1945. They returned to Westphalia in 1960 where they were members of St. Joseph’s Church. Marine took the position of bookkeeper and secretary to the superintendent of Fatima High School. She retired from that position in 1984. In retirement she helped build senior housing for the town.

Marine had a feisty, chin-in-the-air zest for life. She loved a party and found occasions to bring family, friends, neighbors together to enjoy each other. People gathered around her drawn by her vibrancy and funny one-liners. She was curious and adventurous and that led to travel and to numerous creative endeavors from leather working to yarn arts. She leaves her family these standards as a legacy: dare to dream, make time for laughter, boldly embrace life, and stay connected to others.

She is survived by her three children Cherie (Bob) Dupuis, Buzz (Sandy) Hopkins, and Yvonne (Russ) Sharisin; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Van; her two sisters, Agnes Plassmeyer and Mary Lu Lewis; and her three brothers, Clarence, Leander (Bud), and J.B.

The burial will be private but friends and family are warmly invited to a celebration of life luncheon at Lions Club, Westphalia, on November 29 at 12:30pm.