Irene "Rene" Hopkins

Ms. Hopkins was born March 21, 1946, in Houston, Texas. After graduating from Pasadena High School, Rene attended Sam Houston State University. She graduated in 1969 with a degree in biology and began teaching and coaching in Aldine ISD at Aldine Junior High (now Aldine Middle School). She transferred to Nimitz High School in 1978 and was part of the original staff who opened the building. When she retired in 2011, she was the last original member of the staff who opened the school. She lived her life the way she taught her students, with integrity and love. Rene was known among her peers as a pioneer and when she retired, she was the longest serving coach in the history of Aldine ISD.

In her leisure time, Rene loved to hunt, fish, golf, and in her younger days, she was a member of the women’s professional football team, the Houston Herricanes.

Ms. Hopkins is survived by her friend, Vicki Axelrad; brother Thomas Hopkins, wife Lorna; sister Patricia Emmons; sister Doris Fram; niece Genie Reed, husband Jerry; nephew Louis Presley; niece Mona Fuentes; nephew Thomas Hopkins, wife Kim; nephew Patrick Hopkins, wife Maricella; niece Lisa Carlson, husband Aaron; niece Toni Augustine, husband Chris; several dear and loved great nieces and nephews; and dear friends Mike and Margit Axelrad, and Lora Axelrad.

Irene Hopkins has left a legacy in the thousand of students she has taught, and she will be remembered for generations to come.

Services will be held at Calvary Hill Funeral Home in Humble, Texas, on Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu flowers, donations to the Lady Byrd Johnson Wildflower Center, the Houston Humane Society, or MD Anderson Cancer Center.