James “Jim” Drake Hopson

James “Jim” Drake Hopson, 84, of Butler died Saturday at St. John’s Specialty Care in Mars.

Born Jan. 19, 1932, in Phillipsburg, Kan., he was a son of the late Cornelius Drake Hopson and Edna Drake Hopson.

Jim graduated from Phillipsburg High School with a football scholarship for Kansas State, where he received his master’s degree in Animal Husbandry and Animal Nutrition. He had worked for Spang and Co. Research Farm and was then self-employed with the Red Barn Equipment Co.

He was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Mars, where he was an elder; the American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora; and the Penn Township Veterans Association. He was director and past president of the Big Butler Fair, was captain of the mounted Sheriff’s Posse, was known for his dancing horse captain in Butler Parades, was a charter member of the Penn-Glade Lions Club and was past District Governor in 1986 to 1987 and was a Boy Scout leader and on the Board of Eagle Scout Review.

His hobbies included horses, reading, woodworking, and in later years carving, painting and helping to bake ginger bread houses for his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A veteran of the Korean War, Jim served in the U.S. Army.

Surviving are his wife, Davena G. Hopson, who he married April 3, 2009; one daughter, Susan (Marlin) Smith; one daughter-in-law, Vickie Hopson; two stepdaughters, Gretchen (Joe) Baysek and Aimee (Mark) Whitehouse; one stepson, Joseph (Christine) Nalepa; grandchildren, Jaime (Herbert) Wood, Kristina (Charles) Norgren, Kimberly Campbell, Garrett (Amanda) Smith, Devin Smith and Nicole Smith; stepgrandchildren, Joshua Klein, Aaron Nalepa, Jullian Wolfe, Gabrielle Baysek and Timothy Wolfe; and five great-grandchildren, Victoria, Cayton, Shyla, Jasper and Drake.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, James D. Hopson Jr.; his brother, Harry Hopson; and his sister, Geraldine Francis.

HOPSON — Friends of James “Jim” Drake Hopson, who died Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Geibel Funeral Home, 201 E. Cunningham St., Butler.

Funeral Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. The Rev. Bob Zimmerman, pastor, will officiate. Internment will follow at the Greenlawn Burial Estates in Mount Chestnut.

For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.geibelfuneralhome.com.