Hopper Family Scholarship Fund

This scholarship was created to honor Edwin Allen Hopper left this earth in the early morning hours of Friday, January 17, 2020, marking the end of a remarkable life that touched many who were fortunate enough to encounter him on life’s journey. This Family Fund was inspired to recognize his most important contribution, his family. Ed was born in Lewistown, Montana, in 1936. He was the fourth of ten children. The Hoppers were a hard-working and loving farm family that instilled in Ed many of the attributes that helped shape him into the man he became. When Ed was a young child, the family moved to Caldwell, Idaho, where he would spend his youth and grow into a multi-sport athlete at Caldwell High School. A few years of college later, Ed met the most important person in his life, Janice, and a bond was formed that would grow and strengthen for over six decades. After packing a car and U-Haul with everything they owned, in 1959 Ed and Janice moved to St Louis to begin his career as an auditor at Arthur Anderson. Ed soon moved beyond public accounting to become a successful pioneer in the cable television industry. That path eventually led him to wireless communications, where he was a key player in the birth of the cellular telephone industry. In 1989, Ed, a lifelong golf enthusiast, realized a long-term goal of owning a golf property when he and Janice purchased The Resort at the Mountain, outside of Portland. They retired with the sale of the Resort in December, 2007. In spite of his many professional successes, Ed never wavered from the core values that meant the most to him. He was the consummate leader who never forgot the teams around him that needed the guidance, respect and recognition we all desire. His humility and openness to alternative ideas made him a great mentor and role model. Ed had an exceptional eye for spotting opportunities and was more than willing to take intelligent risks to pursue them in often creative and innovative ways. He was very shrewd, but never pressed his advantage over others in a way that would compromise fairness or his own very high standards of integrity. His good-natured, generous approach to business and life left friends and even the occasional adversary with a sense of admiration and respect. Ed was a man of many talents, so it should come as no surprise that he was an extraordinary husband to Janice and an equally exceptional father to Cindy, Doug, Scott and Hiedi. In addition to his immediate family, Ed will be deeply missed by his sons and daughters-in-law Joel, Teresa, Mindy and Scott; his grandchildren Nathan, Aaron, Ali, Kristin, Dustin, Mark, Alex, Meghan and Sydney; and his great-grandchildren Kyler, Bruce, Makayla, and Lucille, along with his siblings and countless friends and associates he met along the way. In spite of the enormity of the loss his passing brings, Ed leaves behind a grateful family who will continue to be bound together by their many happy memories and their great pride in not only his many accomplishments, but more importantly, in the incredible example his life represents for us all. We have been fortunate. About that there is no doubt.