Richard Hopper

Richard H. Hopper, 92, of Ventura, died Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, in Mason City, Iowa.

  Funeral services were held on Friday, Feb. 12, at Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Ventura, with the Rev. Jesse Burns officiating.  Burial was in Concord Township Cemetery, in Garner, with military rites by the Garner Veterans Ceremonial Unit.

  Memorials may be directed to the Richard Hopper Memorial Fund.

  Richard Herman Hopper, the son of Clyde and Mildred Jane (Bennethum) Hopper, was born on a farm near Cambridge, Iowa, on May 19, 1923. The family farmed on many farms in the Colorado area.  In his early school years, he walked three miles to country school. During the depression years, Richard attended Colorado Junior High and High School graduating in 1943.  On March 11, 1945, Richard married Marjorie Taylor, a school teacher from Garner who was teaching at that time in Colorado. After their marriage, Richard continued to farm and Marjorie taught school in Colorado.

In August of 1945, Richard entered the US Army as a C.I.C. Investigator in the Korean War. In 1946, after his military service, Marjorie and Richard moved to Ventura Heights, Ventura. One of Richards’s initial jobs was harvesting ice off of Clear Lake. He also raised rabbits, raised and sold garden produce of corn, raspberries and potatoes.  Richard worked at the Ventura Post Office for three years and at Geisel Hardware delivering bottled gas. When not busy, he was a well-known town handyman capable of doing just about anything.

In 1948, Marjorie and Richard started their family with their first child, Richard Allen. In 1950, their second child, David Duane was born.  Richard was hired by Northern Natural Gas and worked for this company for 32-1/2 years until retirement. In 1952, their third child, Carolyn Jean was born. In 1955, Richard began building a new home in Ventura on Nelson St., moving to it in 1957. Retiring in 1984, Richard and Marjorie began working at their son David’s landscaping business, Natural Plus, in Clear Lake, and even found time to help his adult kids in their various home improvement activities.

Richard was a member of the Redeemer Lutheran Church, in Ventura. He participated in the choir and held several offices within the church. Richard was also a very active Lions Club member and was instrumental in organizing and working the Septemberfest celebration held in Ventura every year. Many vacations around the world were taken along with visits to their families in Northern Minnesota and fishing the many lakes and rivers in that area.

  Richard is survived by his three children, Richard (Connie) Hopper, of Wallingford, Iowa,  David (Linda) Hopper, of Clear Lake, and Carolyn (Greg) Knop, of Nevada, Iowa; five grandchildren, Taylor (Heidi) Hopper, Annalisa (Corey) Miner, David (Mary) Hopper, Chad (Brooke) Knop, and Jennifer (Brad) Melton; eight great-grandchildren, Bailey Montgomery, Sierra Miner, Corey Miner, Cade Knop, Jax Knop, Bianca Knop, Gavin Melton and Dekker Knop;  a sister, Helen Fraser, of Crosslake, Minn.; two brothers, Eldon (Ethel) Hopper, of Pine River, Minn. and Don Hopper, of Pine River, Minn.; and many nieces and nephews.

  He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Marjorie, in 2012; a great-grandson, David Holtan Hopper; two sisters, Mary Lawler and Dorothy Slaughter; and a brother-in-law, Francis Fraser.

Cataldo Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.