Hopper

Alvin L. Hopper, 85, of Lawsonham Road, Templeton, Madison Township, Armstrong County, died at 6:16 p.m. Sunday at his home after a long illness.

Born May 23, 1921, in Widnoon, Armstrong County, he was the son of George and Elizabeth Minich Hopper.

Mr. Hopper was a member of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church in Wildcat, near Rimersburg, where he was Sunday school superintendent, elder and trustee for several years. He enjoyed attending camp meetings with the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Stoneboro.

He attended the Widnoon School and enjoyed working on his small family farm and attending farm auctions and church functions.

Mr. Hopper served in the Army's 81st Wildcat Division with the 323rd Infantry, Co. B, in the South Pacific, namely in the Philippine Islands and in Japan. While stationed in the Philippines, he organized the Sunshine Mission, ministering the gospel to natives.

He was a lifelong farmer in Madison Township, a coal miner at Kissinger Mines, worked for Bachman Coal Co. and operated a family-owned coal mine. He then was employed at the Wildwood Mine in Allegheny County and retired as a coal miner after 25 years. He also had been employed in the punch and shearer department at Pullman Standard and retired from there after 20 years.

Surviving are his wife, Louave Duncan Hopper, whom he married in Templeton Oct. 15, 1946; two sons, Stanley R. Hopper of Templeton and Jerry Lee Hopper of Boardman, Ohio; four daughters, Gloria N. Helsley of Widnoon, J. DeLee Craig of North Huntingdon and Shirley J. Peters and Marilyn Kay Hannold, both of Cooperstown; 18 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. He also is survived by a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law.

He was preceded in death by a sister, three brothers, including his twin, and a son-in-law.

<B>HOPPER</B>— Friends of Alvin L. Hopper, who died Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006, will be received from 7 to 9 p.m. today and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the <B>Richard D. Hillis Funeral Home</B>, 758 Main St., Rimersburg. Visitation also will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday in the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church in Wildcat, where funeral services will follow at 2 p.m. Thursday with the Rev. Mark Deeter, church pastor, and the Rev. Bill Davis, former pastor, officiating.Burial will be at the Kellersburg Methodist Cemetery with full military honors accorded by members of the Rimersburg VFW and the American Legion Ceremonial Squad.Memorial donations may be made to the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church, Rimersburg, PA 16248; or to the VNA Services Foundation of Western Pennsylvania, 154 Hindman Road, Butler, PA 16001.