Roger Hopper

Roger Gaylord Hopper, 84, of Urbanna, Virginia, a former Commonwealth’s Attorney of Middlesex County, and Board Member of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, died on Saturday, April 13th, 2019. He was born in Culpeper, Virginia on February 8th, 1935 to Mr. & Mrs. Marion R. Hopper of Richmond, Virginia. He held a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and an LLB from the T.C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond. He engaged in the practice of law in Saluda, Virginia for over 50 years. Mr. Hopper successfully tried numerous cases before the Supreme Court of Virginia, and in United States District Courts, and many riparian rights cases in Circuit Court in Tidewater Virginia. Various of these cases involved walks through Colonial history and the laws of England that governed the Colony of Virginia prior to the Declaration of Independence. In addition to the Virginia State Bar, he was a member of the Bar of the United States Supreme Court and a past president of the Middle Peninsula Bar Association.

He was a member of the Commonwealth Club and the Sons of the Revolution and was a proud member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He was a communicant and a founding member of All Saints Anglican Church in Saluda and belonged to Donovan Lodge No. 75 A.F. and A.M. Mr. Hopper was a longtime choir director at Christ Church Middlesex County during which time he composed a service mass which was twice performed by the choir. He also sang in the Richmond Symphony Chorus, and in the Chorus of Alumni and Friends of the University of Richmond. He was an active member of the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society and of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, both of London, and was an amateur pianist.

Mr. Hopper is survived by his beloved wife of 58 wonderful years, Helen Ellicott Hill Hopper, whom he married at Philippi Christian Church in Deltaville, Virginia on a hot August 20th, 1960 and by their four sons Christopher Gaylord Hopper of Fredericksburg; Joseph Ellicott Hill Hopper and his wife, Cynthia Wood Hopper, of Midlothian; John Marion Hopper and his wife, Laura Vranian Hopper, of Richmond; Roger Nelson Hopper and his wife, Lauren Fisher Hopper, of Hudson, Ohio; and their twelve grandchildren John Duke Hopper, Christopher McLean Hopper, Laura-Taylor Hopper, Caroline Ellicott Hopper, Virginia Gaylord Hopper, Margaret Elizabeth Hopper, Smith Harrow Hopper, John Farinholt Hopper, Sarah Hill Hopper, Shirley Tyndall Hopper, Thomas Brockway Hopper, and Peter Marion Hopper; and also by Mr. Hopper’s sister-in-law, Margaret Hill Brown of West Point, Virginia.

The family will receive friends from 5-7pm, on Friday, April 19, 2019, at Faulkner Funeral Homes, Bristow-Faulkner Chapel, 15 C.F. Edwards Lane, Saluda, Virginia. The funeral will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 20, 2019 at All Saints Anglican Church, 8 New Street, Saluda, Virginia. The burial will follow at Harmony Grove Baptist Church, 7722 General Puller Highway, Topping, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Jacob’s Ladder, Inc, PO Box 555, Urbanna, Virginia, 23175.