In Memoriam
Richard Magnus Hopper
Richard Hopper
1963 graduation
Richard Magnus Hopper (Dick) died at home in Denver on January 2, 2016 at the age of 74 of brain cancer. He was born on February 4, 1941 in Oneonta, NY to Richard C. and Frances S. Hopper. Dick is survived by two younger siblings, Denton (Joan) Hopper of Bloomfield, CT and Gail (Robert) West of Farmington, CT and Park City, Utah. Dick grew up in Hudson, NY and graduated from the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA in l959. He then went to Yale, where he met and roomed with Michael P. Green with whom he remained a good friend throughout his life.
After graduating in l963 Dick moved to Colorado to attend the University School of Law where he was on Law Review, graduating in 1966. While at law school he met and roomed with Reed L. Winbourn who would become and remain a lifelong friend and neighbor in Denver. After law school, Dick joined the Colorado Air National Guard in 1968 and was sent to South Korea where met another lifelong friend, Duane Houchens.
After his discharge Dick worked for the IRS as an attorney, then joined the First National Bank of Denver where he served as a Senior Trust Officer for over 10 years. He left the bank to join the law firm of Lentz, Evans and King as a partner and retired in 2010 after 30 years. He was recognized as one of the outstanding estate attorneys in Colorado. He met and married his kindred spirit, Barbara Lasko. They were together for 40 happy years and laughed together every day.
Dick was a faithful member of the Kiwanis Club of Denver and greatly enjoyed his association with La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. In addition to his wife, Barbara, his siblings and their families, he is survived by his sister-in-law, Rita Lasko of Salt Lake City, UT as well as many friends and neighbors who loved and admired Dick and miss him greatly. He is remembered for his many fine attributes, particularly his sharp wit, his prodigious memory, his fun loving personality and sense of humor and his kindness to everyone he met. He was a blessing in our lives.
A reception/memorial service will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 from 4-7 p.m. at the Denver Country Club. Refreshments will be served. Dick loved his home which included his two cats, Boy and Trilby. Contributions in Dick's memory would be appreciated and may be sent to Cat Care Society, 5787 West 6th Avenue, Lakewood, CO 80214
Marc Lavietes remembers:
“Dick and I were two of a very heterogeneous group of five people (Mike Green, Bill Stirlen, and Lee Weisberg were the others) who moved together from Calhoun to Stiles in our Senior year. We shared many dinners together and as Senior year progressed spent more and more time over bridge games and social events. Dick was the most congenial among us and thus often brokered our disagreements over bridge games, current events, and the like. My path has crossed many times with Dick and Barbara over the years. I am grateful that we got to spent a delightful day together in Denver last spring while on my way to San Francisco!
Wick Murray recalls:
“I first met Dick in my junior year at Berkshire – and from that first meeting, I quickly came to value his wonderful, dry sense of humor, his fund of sharp, amusing witticisms, and his love of conversation. Boredom was simply not in his vocabulary. I shall deeply miss his friendship and the possibility of future times with him.”