Barbara Ann (Baker) Hopkins

Barbara Ann (Baker) Hopkins passed away suddenly and peacefully at 93 years old on May 18, 2013, at Northern Montana Care Center in Havre of natural causes.

Vigil services will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Havre. Memorial Mass will take place at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 23, 2013, also at St. Jude Thaddeus, with fathers Daniel Wathen and Pete Guthneck officiating.  The family has requested that memorial donations be made to St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Havre or to Soul to Soles, PO Box 3021, Spokane, WA  92233, a small charity managed by Barbie’s son that provides new shoes for deserving pre-school children. Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with services and arrangements, and you can leave your memories and/or condolences at http://www.hollandbonine.com.

She was born on Feb 6 1920, to Verne and Tom Baker, the fourth of five children, in Lewistown, Mont., where she graduated from high school.

Barbie lived in Lewistown until she met and married Ralph Hopkins in 1942.  After World War II, Barbie, Ralph and their son Tom moved from Portland, Ore., to Havre, where Ralph went into the electrical business with his two brothers-in-law, Tom Baker and Roy Jones. Barb and Ralph soon added two girls to the family, Sue Marie and Marianne.

Her Havre years were joyous and productive. She worked for 15 years as the first Welcome Wagon Hostess, and raised three children who were all active in Scouts, sports and multiple school and church activities. She established the first hot lunch program for Havre Catholic schools, and she was the Altar Society President at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish.  

When the children were in high school, the family applied for an AFS Exchange student and welcomed Mangala Raja from Bangalore, India, into the family for a wonderful year. Barbie and all the family continue to be very close to Maggie and her husband and daughters who all live in the states now.

In 1967, Barbie and Ralph embarked upon an exciting new challenge and moved to Lake Orion, Mich., where Ralph became the business manager for Guest House Sanitorium and Barbie worked as a receptionist. They made many wonderful friends in the area and took in all that Michigan had to offer.  In addition, they enjoyed seeing both daughters get married in Lake Orion and were able to have daily contact with Sue’s oldest two children for some time.  

When Ralph retired in 1978, they came back to the West to be closer to family and settled in Spokane, Wash., near their son and grandchildren. While in Spokane, she heard many stories of “non-traditional” college students, which inspired her to enter college in her retirement. By the spring of 1983, at age 62, she had earned an AAS degree in gerontology.  She went on to work for both Lutheran Family Services and Catholic Charities.

Eventually, Barbie and Ralph decided to try out a warmer, dry climate and moved to Tucson, Ariz., where they enjoyed 10 wonderful years nearer to two of her sisters, Peg and Helen; her brother, Tom, and their closest friends, Bill and Peg Fuglevand. They were also able then to spend more time in Alabama with her daughter Sue Miller and her family of five children and grandchildren.

When Ralph’s health began to fail, they decided to return to their roots in Havre, which they still regarded as “home,” and continues to be the home of her daughter, Marianne, and several nieces, nephews and many life-long friends.

For well over 40 years, she has been known to all as “Happy,”  because that was the name given to her by her eldest grandson, Jeff Miller, and because it so suited her personality that it stuck with her for life.

She was a constantly upbeat and cheerful person who fearlessly embraced challenges, changes, new places and new people.

She was always ready to embrace the next phase of life with optimism and acceptance and taught many people the value of kinship, friendship and faith.  She was a mother to three, grandmother to 10, great-grandmother to nine and a “mother-figure” to countless others.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Hopkins; her brother, Tom Baker of Havre; and her sisters, Peggy Jones of Havre,  Jean Wojtowick of Harlowton and Helen Breda of Colorado Springs.

She is survived by her children, Tom (Cathy) Hopkins of Spokane, Sue (Jerry) Miller of Hunstville, Ala., and Marianne (Brett) Hamilton of Havre, as well as all 19 of her grand and great-grandchildren. Her memory will always bring much joy and inspiration to all who knew her.