ALBERT HOPKINS

1931 - 2016

HOPKINS--Albert L., Jr.

Albert L. Hopkins, Jr., of Danbury, NH, and Palm Coast, FL, died on May 17th, 2016, at the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House here. He was the son of the late Albert L. Hopkins, Sr., Esq, of Chicago, IL, and Florence (Odil) Hopkins, originally of Nashville, TN. The senior Hopkins was founding partner of the firm Hopkins Sutter. Raised in the city, the younger Hopkins completed his primary education at the Laboratory School of the University of Chicago. His secondary education was at Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard University, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering. A gifted mathematician, Albert Hopkins, Jr., continued at Harvard earning both his Masters and PhD at the Harvard Computational Laboratory. There he studied under the legendary Howard Aiken, considered by many as the Father of Digital Computing in America. In 1960 Albert Hopkins joined the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, later known as the Draper Lab, where he was a colleague of Dr. Charles Stark Draper. At the lab Albert worked in the Digital Development Group, under Eldon C. Hall. His team members there included Ramon Alonso, Alan Green, and Hugh Blair-Smith, among many other pioneers of digital computing. Dr. Hopkins was a key member of the team that completed the contract with NASA to design the Apollo navigation program. Hopkins was in charge of guiding the Apollo spacecraft from the Earth to the Moon, and back. With Ramon, he designed and hand built the prototype Guidance and Navigation Computer (G&NC) used to perform that critical task. It should be remembered that digital electronics in the early 1960's bore little relation to the advanced IT science of today. Not only was Albert Hopkins' team at Draper Lab confined to the use of core memory, but they were also limited by the amount of space, the shape of that space, and the weight they would be allowed to put aboard the Command Module. Having designed the hardware it also fell to Hopkins to devise and write both the Operating System and Input/Output Language it would use to make the roughly 240,000 mile voyage with a course deviation of under one tenth of one percent. Following the success of the Apollo Program, Albert Hopkins remained at Draper for long enough to perform some of the earliest work on Fault Tolerant computer systems and computer controlled machining centers for clients such as Fiat. After his tenure at MIT, Hopkins joined with two other colleagues to form a private consulting practice known as ITP Computing. With his first wife, the late Bess (House) Hopkins, he is the father of four grown children and now six grandchildren. He was also married to Ellen (Berger) Hopkins. In 1980 Albert married Lynne Zaccaria. The Hopkins' moved to Danbury, NH, and set about learning the craft of pottery making. Together they opened The Danbury Pottery in 1989. Ever restless to take on new challenges, Albert decided to build the couple a home on the property they shared with Lynne's family. In typical fashion he taught himself the basics of Post and Beam construction and with the help of family members cut timber on the property and hewed it into beams using a combination of chain saws and Yankee Ingenuity. The result was a new barn and a custom designed year-round abode for the aspiring potters. In 2003 Dr. Hopkins presented with symptoms of Multiple Myeloma. He ultimately sought treatment at the Myeloma Institute of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Under the care of then Director Dr. Bart Barlogie, MD, PhD, Albert Hopkins faced the challenge to his health as he had always faced all other challenges. He was successful in holding off the ravages of the disease for far longer than the statistical average. His death, thirteen years later, was finally the result of complications associated with Myeloma. He could not have persevered for that time without the consultation and medical skills, in chronological order, of Dr. Becki Melton, MD, of Palm Coast; Bonnie Jenkins, RN; Nadine Baxter, APN; Dr. Giampaolo Talamo, MD; Mary Hickman, RN; and all the nurses and APN's of the Myeloma Institute. He also owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Paul Dodd, MD, and his associates Dr. Kathleen B. Doughney, MD; Dr. Christopher Alexander, DO; and the entire professional staff of the Florida Cancer Specialists. Dr. Hopkins was a member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He was also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was the author of numerous technical articles on subjects ranging from Math Theory to Practical Computing. He and his wife are major contributors to the Myeloma Institute, the South Danbury Christian Church, and fittingly the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House. He is survived by his wife, Lynne Zaccaria Hopkins. He also leaves his children Terry Hopkins and his wife Mandy, of Winchester UK, Tom Hopkins, of New York City, Jay Hopkins, of Hyannis, MA, and Sarah Hopkins Samore, of Salt Lake City. He was the beloved brother of his late sister Catharine and her late husband, David Ruml. He was also the beloved brother of Nancy Hopkins Gerson, 92, and her husband Isak Gerson, of Chicago. He leaves nieces and nephews David J. Ruml and Elizabeth Hopkins Ruml, both of South Strafford, VT, and Susan Haskins and her husband Steven Dolloff of New York City, and the late Amy Gerson, of Chicago. He was the beloved grandfather of Benjamin Hopkins, of Los Angeles; Rebecca and Marina Hopkins of London; Theodore Samore, of Los Angeles; Samuel Samore, of Salt Lake City, and Eliza Samore, also of Salt Lake City. He will be remembered for his integrity, honesty, wit, humor, sincerity, charm, his love of playing piano, classical and folk guitar, and for his love of gardening. Services are being managed by Chadwick Funeral Home, New London, NH. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Albert's Name to the Danbury Community Center, Danbury, NH 03230.