Charles Lyon Hopper, Md

Portsmouth, RI - Charles Lyon Hopper, MD FACS, 76, of 68 James Court, Portsmouth, RI, died Wednesday, April 25, 2007 at home surrounded by members of his family. He was born May 6, 1930 in Atlanta Georgia. He was the son of Harold C. Hopper and Margaret Lyon Hopper. He grew up in the mid-west and moved to Ridgewood, NJ. He attended Ridgewood High School where he and his brother excelled in sports. Charles went on to attend Springfield College in Massachusetts where, in 1950, he met his future wife, Joan Rahn, while working as an orderly at Springfield Hospital. Joan was a student nurse at the time. They were married one day after she graduated from nursing school and five days before Charles started medical school at Yale. They were married for fifty-four years. Charles Hopper graduated from Yale Medical School summa cum laude in 1956. He interned at Mary Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York from 1956 through 1957. He served in the Navy as the Medical Officer attending divers at the Underwater Ordenence Station from 1957 to 1959. From 1959 to 1964 he completed a surgical residency at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut then moved his growing family back to the Newport area. He began his practice as a General and Thoracic Surgeon in the office of Dr. James Callahan at 10 Bull Street directly behind Newport City Hall during July of 1964. Dr. Hopper, who will always be Chuck to his many friends, served as the Chief of Surgery at Newport Hospital from 1976 until 1983. In addition he served other positions of staff leadership during his tenure at the Hospital. His professional career also saw a committed involvement with the American College of Surgeons, the Rhode Island Trauma Committee, the American Board of Surgery, the Rhode Island Medical Society, Newport County Medical Society, the Providence Surgical Society and the New England Cancer Society. In addition, he was the surgeon for Saint Georges School from 1964 until 1983. His community activities were also extensive and centered in, but were not limited to, the world of medicine. He was a Trustee of Newport Hospital and of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island from 1970 to 1976. He had also been Director of Newport Health Care Corporation, and was a longtime member of the American Cancer Society, serving at one time as the President of the Society?s Newport County Unit. As recently as 2006 he also served on the Visiting Nurse Services Professional Advisory Committee. Chuck?s other community involvements include serving as a deacon at the United Congregational Church from 1966 to 1971 and as a Trustee of the same church from 1981 to 1983 and again from 2004 to 2006. At various times he was a member of the Newport Lion?s Club, the Newport Chamber of Commerce and the Newport Yacht Club. Doctor Hopper, retired in 1994. He then became an accomplished cook, rarely allowing his wife, Joan, into the kitchen before dinner. He was an avid gardener, growing vegetables, perennial flowers and caring for an assortment of orchids in his greenhouse. Chuck and Joan traveled widely, including visits to Fiji, Greece, The Virgin Islands and more recent trips across the United States. In one instance they followed the Lewis and Clarke Trail in Chuck?s favorite car, a Buick. He loved sailing with friends on Narragansett Bay aboard his thirty-foot boat the Cowardly Lyon. He passes this appreciation for friendship and the natural world on to his children. He is best known and remembered in the Newport area for his work in medicine as a general surgeon. His treatment of patients, coworkers and staff was compassionate, kind and fair. Besides his wife, he is survived by his children Philip Rahn Hopper of Brooklyn, NY, Margaret Sitarik of Longmont, CO, Kristen Hopper and her husband Steven Rogers of Berkeley, CA, and Amy Lyon Hopper-McKee and her husband Jeff of Jamestown, RI, his brother Thomas Hopper of Atlanta, GA, his sister Laura Quinlan of San Diego, CA, and his grandchildren Ian Sitarik and Lyle Hopper-Rogers. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2007, at 2:00 pm in United Congregational Church, 524 Valley Road, Middletown. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Newport Hospital Foundation, 11 Friendship Street, Newport, RI 02840 or to United Congregational Church, 524 Valley Road, P.O. Box 4262, Middletown, RI 02842.