Albert R. “Butch” Hopkins, Jr. was born on April 26, 1941 in Washington, DC. A fourth generation Washingtonian, he was the second of two children born to Albert R. Hopkins and Thelma Marzett Johnson Hopkins. He attended St. Augustine Catholic Elementary School and graduated from Mackin Catholic High School in 1959.
In November 1959, Butch volunteered to serve in the US Air Force from which he was honorably discharged for medical reasons in April 1960. He then matriculated to Howard University where he joined the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity in 1963. He graduated from Howard University with a BS in Mathematics in 1965 and received a JD in Law from Howard University in 1969. Over time he became a member of the Bar of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals, US Court of Military Appeals, the United States Tax Court, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and the National Bar Association.
In 1965, Butch joined the Man Machine Department of Martin Marietta Company in Baltimore, Maryland as an associate engineer with the Human Engineering Section. While at Martin Marietta, Butch had the pleasure of working with the US Air Force astronauts who were undergoing training at Edwards AFB in California. He worked with astronauts including Buzz Aldrin and the competitive teams sent to Martin Marietta by the Air Force. These teams also received physical training conducted by E.J. Taylor, the physical trainer for the Baltimore Colts and Baltimore Orioles. Butch often said this was the time when he was in the best physical shape of his life.
In 1969, Butch joined the Federal Trade Commission as a General Attorney for the Bureau of Deceptive Practices, Division of Special Projects. In that same year, Butch joined the US Capitol Police Department so that the he could attend law school. He completed his law studies while serving as a postman with the US Senate Post Office under the patronage of Senator Joseph Tydings.
Butch joined the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation in 1969, initially as a Business Development Counselor, then Deputy Director, then Executive Director. From 1974 until his death, he served as President and CEO of the corporation. He devoted much of his time and energy to its growth and advancement. He was particularly proud of the AEDC Scholarship Foundation which he established in 1999 and which has provided four-year scholarships to many deserving graduates of Anacostia and Ballou Senior High Schools.
During his long career, Butch served as president of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, Anacostia Marketplace, and Anacostia Management Company, Inc. He served as chairman of the New School for Enterprise and Development Public Charter School, The Double Nickels Theatre Company, Inc., and as co-chairman of the Small Business Development sub-group of Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray’s Economic Development Transition Team.
Butch was a founding board member of the Anacostia Coordinating Council, the East Coast Development Corporation, Main Street Anacostia Inc., the Friends of Fort DuPont Ice Arena, Inc., the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, and the Anacostia Business Improvement District Corporation. He was a graduate of the first class of Leadership Washington. He was also a board member of the Washington, DC Economic Partnership, a member of Lambda Alpha International, the Honorary Society for the Advancement of Land Economics, and a member of the International Council of Shopping Center Developers.
Butch married Sheila A. Watson of Washingtonville, New York in 1967. They had two children, Michelle Hopkins Lawrence and Mark Hopkins. Sheila and Butch were divorced in 1979, but remained close friends. Butch is survived by his children and his six grandchildren, Brittany, Dominick, Donovan, Dillon, Aaron and Lillian Rose. He is also survived by his sisters Mary Althea Holland and Barbara Ann Hopkins, his aunt, Evelyn Thomas Hankley, and a nephew and many loving nieces and cousins.
Butch looked forward to his weekly tennis matches and loved his yearly scuba diving adventures to different Caribbean Islands with his Sea Venture Dive Club. He greatly enjoyed his annual European excursions with close friends to many interesting and exotic locations. Butch strongly believed that you should treat others as you wish to be treated. He tried to live his life by this principle. He once wrote that “the true measure of success is gauged by what you put back into the community as opposed to what you take out.”
Those who worked with Butch know that he usually operated on his own time. Family members have long joked that he would be late for his own funeral. In January of 2012, he was given only one to three months to live. In typical Butch fashion, he passed away five months later on June 28. He spent the final months of his life on what meant the most to him: his work, his travels and the people he loved. In short he ended his life as he had lived it.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the AEDC Scholarship Fund which has been renamed the Butch Hopkins Memorial AEDC Scholarship Fund.
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