WALLAGRASS – Lt. Col. Frank P. Hopkins, U.S. Air Force, ret., 82, died Jan. 30, 2001, at his home in Wallagrass. He was afraid that no other writer than himself could do justice to his powerful intellect, extraordinary heroism and penchant for hard work. He was a navigator by trade. He leaves behind his treasured wife, Dorothy; five children from a previous marriage; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; another son, Scott, died in 1975 while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. Dorothy gave him Robert B. and Frank W. Hopkins, both whom are smarter and more mature than he ever was. Disinclined to work for a living, the youthful Hopkins joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. He transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force after Pearl Harbor and eventually flew 51 combat missions with a B-17 group that was engaged in that grandly called “Air Offensive, Europe.” He was rewarded for his terror and bad marksmanship by receiving eight air medals, five battle stars, and a Purple Heart. This hapless warrior was no hero, only lucky. After a post-war teaching stint of four years and finding the scholar’s lot hard work and somewhat boring, he used the Korean War to return to flying with a troop carrier group and later became a master navigator, flying to such garden spots of the Cold War as Thule, Greenland, the Old Belgian Congo, Cuba, and Viet Nam. He retired from service in 1968 after five years as an advisor to the New York Air Guard. After service, Hopkins spent a year as a parole officer for the state of Maryland. Finding that this was a dull, underpaid grind, his anathema for hard work soon brought him to Maine and the St. John Valley, where he found his beloved Dorothy and a wonderful life, with the gentle people of the Valley. His hobbies were patting dogs, looking at clouds and doing powerful thinking while watching candles burn. He also liked to write cranky letters to newspapers, telling them what they were doing wrong. Hopkins voted for a Republican only once in his entire life, that being for a state senator whose Democratic opponent was a cult member. He never forgave himself but did regard it as a choice between two evils. An avid avoider of parades and ceremonies, he wishes for no final services. Arrangements are being conducted by the Daigle & Nadeau Funeral Home of Fort Kent.
HOPKINS, Lt. Col. Frank P., 82
