• Douglas Hopps

Douglas William Hopps died in Portland, Maine, on October 17, 2019 after a long illness.

He was born in the hamlet of Garrison in the village of Cold Spring, N.Y., on May 26, 1959. He went to school in West Hartford, Conn., and Westminster West, Vt., and graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School, Vt., in 1977. He earned a certificate from the Franklin School of Business in 1993.

Douglas worked at Artech Electronics Ltd. in Burlington, Vt. He later was manager at several retail stores in South Burlington, Vt., and in 1996 moved to Albuquerque, N.M., for nine years. Returning to Bristol, Vt., he was a custodian and a para-educator at Bristol Elementary School. He did volunteer work at the Starksboro food bank. He moved to Maine in 2015 to rejuvenate his life; he lived in Camden and Cumberland and quickly developed new friendships in both communities. In Maine, he worked at local grocery stores and volunteered for Furniture Friends and the Cumberland Wood Bank.

Douglas was good-natured and delightful, with an innate sense of humor. He was a kind and gentle soul. Doug loved most all music genres, in particular rock and roll, big band '40s and classical; he was a big fan of artists from Ian Anderson to Antonio Vivaldi. He was a drummer at an early age and played until recently, when he continued tapping out beats on his dashboard. His greatest joy professionally was running his DJ business, Dance Around Sound. Douglas made cassette tapes, and later CDs, for family members that some of us still listen to today because of the great music mixes he created.

He was predeceased by his mother, Margaret Jean (Shaw) Foster, in 2017; his stepmother, Ann Hopps, in 2015; and his aunt, Joan Hopps, in 2013.

Douglas is survived by his daughter Burdena of Middlebury Vt.; his father, Thomas Hopps, of Camden, Maine; his siblings Robin and her wife Wendy Sue Harper of Monkton, Vt., Frederic and his wife Jette of Beverly, Mass., and Jonathan and his wife Tory Dietel Hopps of Cumberland, Maine; nieces Inge, Kaja, Sara and Carly; and nephew Sawyer. Other family members include Lynn and Bill Cash of Davidson, N.C., and family; Bruce and Sue Millar of Diablo, Calif., and family; Keith Millar of New York City; Leath Allyn Ashley of Yukon, Okla., and family; Craig Hamilton of Glendora, Calif.; Andrew and Christy Shaw and family of Westbury, N.Y.; and countless friends from California to Vermont.

Douglas will be missed greatly, yet the music in him will play on.

A celebration of Doug’s life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 23, 2019, at Southern Maine Community College, 122 McKernan Dr., South Portland, ME 04106 in the McKernan Hospitality Center.

Donations in Doug’s name can be made to the organization of your choice.