Donald Lewis Hopper passed away on September 30, 2015 in Redlands, California of Parkinson's Disease. He was 80 years old.
Donald was born in 1934 in Redding, CA to parents, Charles and Lena Hopper. Donald went to UC Berkeley and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a Bachelor's degree in Architecture before enlisting in the Air Force where he specialized in Electronics.
Donald and his brother, Francis, started a TV repair business before Donald worked as a design technician for Texas Instruments, Philco and Raytheon. He later taught electronics at a technical school in Anoka, MN. Donald received his Bachelor's degree in Electronics from the University of Minnesota and later received his Master's degree in Electronics from Oregon State University. He taught high school computer electronics in North Bend, Oregon and in Modesto, California.
Upon retirement, Donald explored the United States in his travel trailer for over 15 years. His family has many fond memories of camping with him. Donald loved working on his Chevrolet truck, watching Sci-Fi movies and always enjoyed a good steak dinner.
Donald is survived by his daughter, Julie Hopper Lawson [Brian Lawson] of Bakersfield, California; daughter, Stephanie Hopper of Los Angeles, California; brother, Francis Hopper of Covina, California; sister, Eldeen Anderson-Fisher of Klamath Falls, Oregon; sister, Mae Hyatt of Klamath Falls; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his son, Donald (Donnie) Hopper, Jr.
His family has asked that donations be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation in his name to help find a cure for Parkinson's.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. The Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, with more than $2 billion in high-impact research funded to date.
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