"Lumbering mountain of a man who worked from dawn to dusk and was at home on the tractor, in the woods, at the dinner table or napping."
Hopkins
Farmer - Woodsman - Hunter - CC Camp Foreman
Brookside, PA
NMP#  12.H.1

Although not a church-goer like his wife, Ralph did donate the land for the Methodist Church in Brookside.

He was missing part of his little finger on one hand (probably from a farm accident) and always said that it was from fighting a bear.  That he won the fight by reaching down inside the bear, grabbing his tail and pulling him inside out.  But that it cost him part of his little finger. 

One interesting story about Ralph was that once while he was "in town" applying for a job as a game warden, the game wardens were out raiding his barn looking for illegal venison.  Unfortunatley they discovered it under the hay in the barn and the local newspaper had a an article the next day on how a game warden applicant was busted for having out-of-season game.  Quite an embarrassment but anyone that knew him was probably not surprised.

His home in Brookside had one side that served as a home within the home for family needing a place to stay.  The whole house was heated with a large coal stove in the basement and floor registers in the 2nd floor rooms allowed warm air to rise from the first floor to the second floor naturally.  One of the memorable events was as kids going to bed earlier than the adults, their playful arguments would always float up through the floor register vents.  Ralph was always ready for a spirited argument and his family was always ready to bait him into an argument..... it could be about taxes, money, a neighbor's behavior, inflated hunting stories, the borrowing of Ralph's tools or anything provocative at that moment. 

Typically Ralph would farm corn, a vegetable garden and timber and ran a small herd of cattle partially for the milk.  We fondly remember hanging on the big John Deere tractor as it sped up the road with its large ag tires throwing up dust. 

His legacy includes generations of strong hard-working descendents and memories of a colorful "grandfather" character. One of his fondest memories was of a hunting trip he took out west.  It is good to remember that the experience made him happy.  

His lineage meeds to be researched but his father was Harry Hopkins and his grandfather was Joseph Hopkins.  Ralph's portion of the Hopkins tree was supposed to have arrived in America as a group of 7 brothers.

Memory Record Manager Contact Information
oakhillfarm@hotmail.com