Othel Alvin Hopson

Othel Alvin "Al" Hopson passed away in Santa Cruz, California on August 23, 2020.

Born in Arkansas in 1925, he joined the US Army Air Corp (Air Force) in 1943 and was stationed in Emporia, Kansas where he met and married his sweetheart, Marian Fleeker. They spent 75 years together before her passing in May of this year. During his military service, he served in Germany in WWII and flew in 7 missions. After leaving the service, he was hired by the United States Postal Service in 1948. He started his career as a clerk and retired in 1980 as a Superintendent of Postal Operations at the Watsonville Post Office.

He was a very active bowler with multiple 300 games under his belt. He held many positions in the league for decades. He was very active in the American Legion and VFW. He held many Local and State positions for the American Legion and the VFW. He was awarded the honor of being Veteran of the Year by the California State Legislature in 2013 and was chosen to participate in the Honor Flight Bay Area trip to Washington, DC in 2015. He was huge S.F. Giants and 49er fan. He never missed watching or listening to their games. When the Watsonville Wildcatz High School football and basketball games were broadcast on KOMY radio station, he was statistician. He loved to play Bingo and he and Marian spent many Friday nights at the St. Francis Bingo.

He is survived by his son, Tom (DeeDee), Tina (widow of Richard), granddaughters Jennifer (Oscar) Alaniz, Maggie and Molly Hopson and one great-granddaughter Ava Alaniz. He was preceded in death by his wife Marian and son Richard.

Any kind acts of charity can be made in his honor to the American Legion, 214 Center Street, Watsonville, CA 95076. He will be laid to rest at a small graveside service on September 9th, 2020 at 11:00am at Pajaro Valley Memorial Park. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, attendees are required to maintain social distancing and wear masks.

Published in The Pajaronian · September 2, 2020