Closer to Home
March 02, 2023 / Obituary for Hilary Hopkins 1938 - 2023
Hilary Halun Bloch Hopkins, Beloved Wife, Mother, and Friend. Teacher, Writer, Naturalist, Citizen Scientist. Hilary Hopkins, aged 84, died on February 2, 2023, of complications following a TMVR (transcatheter mitral valve repair) procedure, surrounded by her family.
Mrs. Hopkins, a resident of Cambridge, MA, since 1961, was born in Baltimore, MD, and moved with her family to Denver, CO, at the age of six. She liked to say that although she had lived in Cambridge nearly all of her life, she remained a westerner in her heart. Following her graduation from East High School in Denver, Mrs. Hopkins attended Oberlin College, from which she was graduated in 1960, receiving an A.B. in sociology. She later attended Boston State College (now a part of the University of Massachusetts), from which she received an M. Ed. in 1973.
In 1960, she married John G. S. Flym, they divorced in 1967. Her two daughters were born of this marriage. In 1970, she married John Bradford Hopkins, who adopted the children. Mrs. Hopkins pursued what she described as "serial, serious careers." She began a long career in education as a Gr. 4 teacher in the Somerville Public Schools. She then moved to the Arlington Public Schools as director of its program for elementary gifted students.
After leaving Arlington, Mrs. Hopkins taught at UMass/Boston in its Master's Degree program in Critical and Creative Thinking. During this time, she consulted to nearly 60 schools and school systems, working with teachers and students to enhance critical and creative thinking skills in their classrooms. She was also invited to prepare two reports for the Massachusetts Department of Education on teaching science and other subjects to gifted students. In 1993, Mrs. Hopkins combined her passion for travel with her experience as a teacher.
After a course of study with the International Tour Management Institute, she became a tour director, escorting large groups of travelers in New England and the Canadian Maritimes. This career was cut short as Mrs. Hopkins took responsibility for escorting her mother, Marie Halun Bloch, on her life's final journey. Following studies at the New England Wild Flower Society, Mrs. Hopkins received their Certificate in Native Plant Studies and in 1996, she went to work at Habitat Audubon Sanctuary in Belmont, MA. There, she led natural history walks and programs for children and adults, and eventually became the coordinator of training for new walk leaders. During this time, she wrote her first book, "Never Say It's Just a Dandelion," which she published in 2000.
After leaving Massachusetts Audubon in 2006, Mrs. Hopkins published her second book, Boston's Historic Places, "So What?," which she thought of as a gentle but powerful combination of history and critical thinking. Thinking to share her travel journals, images, and reflections on her experiences in 2013, Mrs. Hopkins began publishing the journals and blog posts, with their accompanying images, on her website, https://hilarysplaces.com/ She was pleased with this electronic opportunity for a wider readership and loved to see her words and images enjoyed by people whom she did not know, in places where she had never been. Mrs. Hopkins was a longtime member of the Appalachian Mountain Club and served on several of its committees, and over the years led many local walks for AMC, focusing on history and natural history. She and her husband were members of the AMC 4,000 Footer Club, meaning that they had climbed all 65 peaks over 4,000 feet in New England.
She was also a member of the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, where, for many years, she was a volunteer in a project to record, and thus preserve, fading monument inscriptions. As a volunteer at the Boston Museum of Science, she worked in its Butterfly Garden, a fine place to be on a cold Boston day. She described herself as a cradle Roosevelt Democrat, a patriot who loved her country even when it seemed wrong-headed, and was proud to be what she called a bleeding-heart, dyed-in-the-wool liberal, grateful for the good fortune to be born in America. A passionate traveler and outdoor person, together with her beloved husband and life's companion, John, Mrs. Hopkins set foot on all the continents. She traveled to 110 countries and all the states, a privilege she never took for granted. She and John were "eclipse chasers" and witnessed this awesome event all over the world, from Chile to Mongolia. Mrs. Hopkins loved landscape and every aspect of the natural world, and was happiest when on the road or on the trail. She was a voracious learner and seeker, a compulsive writer, a lover of art and science, and was best described as a passionate enthusiast.
Mrs. Hopkins is survived by her beloved husband, John; and by her daughter, Susannah Halun Hopkins Leisher and her husband, Craig Daniel, of Millburn, NJ. Her younger daughter, Alyson Marie Hopkins died unexpectedly in 2014. She is also survived by three grandsons, Zimri Bhai, Kai Halun, and Ilem Birch Bradford Leisher. A fourth grandson, Wilder Daniel, was stillborn. A Concert and Celebration of Her Life will be held at First Church Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, at 10 am on Saturday, June 17. Donations in her memory may be made to First Church Cambridge, The Nature Conservancy, or the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery.