JOHN BRADFORD HOPKINS

HOPKINS, John Bradford Beloved Father and Husband; Scientist; Lifelong Civil Servant John Bradford Hopkins, aged 89, died on November 1, 2025, of complications of Alzheimer's disease, beloved by his family. Mr. Hopkins, a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts since 1958, was born in Orange, New Jersey and moved with his mother, Doris Keyes Hopkins, to Brattleboro, Vermont in 1948, following the death of his father, John Milton Hopkins. He attended the Hickory Ridge School in Putney, Vermont and was graduated from Brattleboro High School. In 1958, he was graduated with high honors from Amherst College, where he majored in physics; throughout his life, he was grateful for the foundation for life and thought which he received at Amherst. In 1966, Mr. Hopkins received a PhD in applied physics from Harvard University. Following his graduation from Harvard, Mr. Hopkins was employed by NASA's Electronics Research Center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts and in 1970, when the NASA facility was closed and the property taken over by the U.S. Department of Transportation, he continued at the DOT's new Volpe Transportation Systems Center. Proud to be a lifelong federal civil servant, Mr. Hopkins spent the remainder of his working life at the Volpe DOT Center. There, he was involved in work relating to all the transportation modes, from rail to highway to air. He played major roles in landmark studies of the Northeast rail corridor, grade-crossing safety, high-speed ground transportation, telecommuting and aviation innovation. He was the chair of the committee on grade-crossing safety for the Transportation Research Board. During his career at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mr. Hopkins filed several patents and was presented with a number of awards for his service to the federal government. Mr. Hopkins was much appreciated at the Volpe Center for his skill in writing lucid reports, and, as he sometimes put it, for being "the skunk at the picnic," when he would guide discussions back to basic questions, displaying his ability to Think Things Through (a never-forgotten maxim received from his maternal grandfather, Henry Samuel Keyes). During the years leading up to his retirement from the Volpe Center in 2006, and for many years thereafter, Mr. Hopkins was a volunteer docent at the Boston Museum of Science. He spent many hours each week presenting astronomy concepts to thousands of visitors, ideas about what he called our celestial neighborhood, as well as encouraging thousands of children to participate in the Museum's Design Challenge activity. He served four terms on the Volunteer Service League's Board of Directors, two of which as its President. Mr. Hopkins also volunteered for many years in the Cambridge and Somerville public schools, teaching astronomy in Somerville and coaching the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Science Olympiad team. In 2006, the Cambridge School Volunteers presented him with its Mack Davis award for outstanding service. In 2011, Mr. Hopkins joined the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. There, he taught courses about astronomy and the nature of science. He served on the curriculum committee of HILR, and he took great pleasure in learning and in sharing what he learned with classmates. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi (science fraternity) as well as a lifelong and staunch card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union. He was also a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club, in which he served on several committees. Together with his wife, Hilary, Mr. Hopkins traveled the world, setting foot on all the continents. A special focus for their travels was the pursuit of total solar eclipses, of which he and Hilary saw 11. Mr. Hopkins, a devoted husband and father, is survived by his daughter, Susannah Hopkins Leisher and her husband, Craig, of Concord, Massachusetts; and three grandsons, Zimri, Kai and Ilem. A fourth grandson, Wilder, was stillborn. His beloved wife, Hilary, died in 2023; and their younger daughter, Alyson Marie Hopkins, died unexpectedly in 2014. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Heather Hopkins; and his niece, Deborah; he was preceded in death by his four nephews, David, James, Jeffrey and Richard, Jr. "Chip"; and his brothers, Richard "Dick" and Bradford. John Hopkins will be profoundly missed by all who loved him, and all who admired and learned from and through his remarkable presence. All are invited to a Service in Celebration of his Life at Bigelow Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, November 22, at 1 pm. Donations in his name to the ACLU, the Boston Museum of Science or Amherst College would be deeply appreciated.

View the online memorial for John Bradford HOPKINS