Richard Keith Hopkins

LTC (US Army Ret) Richard Keith Hopkins, 89, passed away peacefully in the early morning of February 22, 2025. The second of four sons of Arnold and Pauline Hopkins, Richard grew up in Pierson, FL. He graduated from Pierson High School where he was an all-state point guard for the basketball team. He attended Stetson University where he participated in Army ROTC, rising to the post of lieutenant colonel and cadet battalion commander. He was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and president of the Scabbard and Blade Society. After graduating from Stetson, Richard was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army in July 1957. He was assigned to Armor Officer School in Ft. Knox, KY and armor warfare would become the primary focus of his military career. Richard married his college sweetheart, Phyllis Ann Parr, in Jacksonville, FL on December 29, 1957. The couple were initially stationed in Ft. Knox, KY, where their first child, Susan Elaine, was born in 1959. In 1960, Richard was assigned to Buedingen, Germany where he served until 1962, including the tense period when the Soviet Union cut off East Berlin from West Berlin and began erecting the Berlin Wall in the summer of 1961. Upon returning to the US in 1962, Richard and Phyllis’ second child, David Richard, was born in Jacksonville. In 1964-65, Richard was deployed to Viet Nam. After his deployment, he had assignments in Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Ft. Knox, KY, where son Russell Keith was born in 1967, and Oahu, Hawaii. After a brief redeployment to Viet Nam in 1971, he and the family returned to Ft. Knox where Gregory Scott was born in 1973. In the latter years of his career, Richard was instrumental in designing and testing the Army’s new battle tank, now known as the M1 Abrams. He was an Airborne Ranger, graduate of the Command and General Staff College and was awarded the Bronze Star, Combat Infantry Badge, Air Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal among many other honors. Richard completed his distinguished 20-year military career as a battalion commander in Ft. Knox in 1977. Upon returning to civilian life in Volusia County, FL, Richard was hired by General Electric in Daytona Beach to work on a project for the US Army building a training simulator for the Army’s new battle tank. Richard would work for GE for the next 14 years. At the same time, he and the family built the fern business in Pierson that Richard had started with the help of family and friends while still in the Army. The business, now known as Hopkins Quality Foliage, is a thriving enterprise owned and operated by son Rusty. Throughout Richard’s busy working career, he always made time for his family and his hobbies. He was an avid and highly skilled outdoorsman, enjoying fishing and hunting with friends and family. He took up golf in his thirties and, being an outstanding athlete, quickly mastered the game and enjoyed it well into his seventies. Richard’s later years were devoted to grandchildren, friends and family. Richard and Phyllis enjoyed many happy summers at their second home in Sapphire, NC, making new friends, entertaining family and playing lots of golf. Richard was a man of strong faith and patriotism. Having grown up attending the Pierson United Methodist Church, he was very active in the church upon returning to Pierson after his military career, eventually serving as the chairman of the Board of Trustees. He served as chairman of the Pierson Methodist Cemetery for several years, ensuring that American flags were placed on the graves of each veteran every Memorial Day. Richard is survived by his wife of 67 years, Phyllis, daughter Susie (Dale) of DeLand, son David (Joelle) of Alexandria, VA, son Rusty (Michelle) of DeLand, son Greg (Jennifer) of Charlotte, NC and brother Randy (Marlena) of Tallahassee, as well as eleven grandchildren and five great- grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents and brothers Lawrence and Michael. Funeral arrangements are being managed by Allen-Summerhill Funeral Home of DeLand. Visitation will be held at Pierson Methodist Church at 136 West 2nd Avenue, Pierson, FL 32180 at 10am on March 1, 2025, followed by funeral service at 11am. Interment with military honors will follow at Pierson Methodist Cemetery. Memory donations may be made to Folds of Honor www.foldsofhonor.org or other organizations supporting veterans.

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