PEORIA, IL -- My husband of nearly 64 years died a few days ago, and we wanted his obituary published in the Peoria Journal Star, where I worked for 30 years, retiring in 2007.
But the PJS wanted over $1000 to publish it. So we cut it, leaving out many interesting parts, to $500, still an outrageous cost.
Here it is, uncut, and you can read it for free:
George E. Hopkins obituary
George E. Hopkins, 86, died on September 28, 2023, in Macomb, IL, from complications of Parkinson’s disease.
He was a well known and loved professor of history at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL, and an author and expert on the history of aviation and airline pilots. His book Flying the Line is now a free podcast on several platforms.
George was born in 1937 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the only child of Homer and Lillian Hunt Hopkins. As a child he lived with his mother in Washington DC where he recalled seeing the 1940 inaugural parade of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He lived with his parents in Nevada and California during World War II, then they moved to Ryan, Oklahoma, where he recalled riding a horse to school on a few occasions. He and his parents moved to Dallas, Texas, when he was in middle school. There he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1955, then from Southern Methodist University in 1959.
As a high school student, he joined the U.S. Navy Reserve, and while in college he went to Officer Training School. He was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy after graduation from college. He applied for flight training, landed on an aircraft carrier, and received his wings. He then was sent to a patrol squadron, PATRON 50 in Iwakuni, Japan, for a three-year tour of duty where he piloted a P5M U.S. Navy sea plane.
In 1964 he entered the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Ph.D. in history. His dissertation became a book, The Airline Pilots, a Study in Elite Unionization, published by Harvard University Press, 1971. In 1968 he was hired at WIU, where he worked until his 2007 retirement. He taught popular large illustrated lecture classes on the Vietnam War and U.S presidential assassinations, as well as many other topics.
His other books included Flying the Line, Vols. I and II, published in 1982 and 2000, respectively, by the Airline Pilots Association, where he was a consultant.
In 1979 he was voted Professor of the Year by WIU students. In 2003 he was named Distinguished Faculty Lecturer by his colleagues.
Hopkins was the author of many historical articles and several books on aviation. He was widely quoted in national publications and once was interviewed on CBS TV News.
In 1959 he married Elaine Bridges in Dallas, Texas, who survives him in Peoria. Other survivors are their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Their two children are Jennifer (Ginger) Wheeler (Paul) of Glen Ellyn, IL, and Paul W. Hopkins of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They have four grandchildren. Ginger and Paul have three sons: Sam Wheeler (Carolyn) of San Diego, CA.; Joey Wheeler (Stephanie), and Jack Wheeler (Karen), both couples of Lombard, IL. The Hopkins’ son, Paul, has one daughter, Breanna Hopkins of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Their eldest grandson Sam and his wife, Carolyn, have two children, Lily (Lillian Elaine, aged 3) and Charlie (Charles Robert, aged 14 months); Joey and Stephanie are expecting in March 2024.
George and Elaine lived and traveled in Japan for three years in the 1960s, and spent six months in London in 1987, where they traveled widely in Europe, including in Russia before the fall of the Soviet Union. They traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 2016 to visit their grandson Jack who was studying at Griffith University in Brisbane. They snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. They loved to go biking and skiing in Colorado and Galena, IL, together and enjoyed reading books, watching TV and films and experiencing all other art forms including live theater, museums, painting and sculpture.
George was a member of the Macomb Flyers, a club that owned a Cessna airplane, which he flew, accompanied by his wife, to New York, Colorado, Dallas, Boston and other destinations. He survived an engine failure and rough landing in an area cornfield in the Cessna in 1970, from which he and a co-pilot walked away.
Two Celebrations of Life for George are schedule in Macomb and Peoria, IL. For Macomb, the Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday, October 7, at the Bailey House, from 1:00-4:00 p.m., 100 S. Campbell St., Macomb, IL. For Peoria, the Celebration of Life will take place Saturday, October 21, at the historic Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Hall, 1:00-4:00 p.m., 416 Hamilton, Peoria, IL.
Memorial contributions can be made to the WIU Department of History Scholarship Fund, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL, 61455.
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