Ruth A. Hoopes

1925 - 2019

Ruth A. Hoopes, 93, passed away peacefully on June 13, 2019, in Augusta, Georgia.

She was born Ruth Ann James on Christmas Eve 1925 in Delaware, OH, to Marie Robinson James and V. Leroy James, a Methodist minister. Ruth grew up in Carrollton, OH and married Charles Robert (Bob) Hoopes in 1948. She graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH in 1946 with a B.S. in chemistry and a minor in mathematics. She later earned a Masters degree in Outdoor Education from the University of Akron.

An avid proponent of science and its teaching, Ruth taught in the Brunswick, OH schools until her retirement in 1996. Her multi-species classroom menagerie, frank approach to the "maturation unit," and exciting classroom experiments challenged conventional approaches to education at the time, while inspiring love of science in generations of children. In 1983, Ruth drove from Ohio to Cape Canaveral to witness the launch of the space shuttle crewed by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and later was a semifinalist in NASA's "Teacher in Space" project. Ruth was also an active member of the National Education Association and participated in the 1978 strike in Brunswick over teacher salaries.

Ruth loved adventure travel, and visited all seven of Earth's continents. After retirement she moved to Tybee Island, GA, where she volunteered with the Tybee Island Marine Science Center and the Tybee Art Association.

Ruth is survived by her four children: Alice Marie Brook (Neal) of Augusta, GA; Mary Anne Hoopes (Dianna Johnston) of Lewes, DE; Terence James Hoopes (Deborah) of North Fort Myers, FL, and Susan Anne Hoopes (Chivers Woodruff) of Pelham, AL. Other descendants include her four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, two nieces and a nephew. She will be sorely missed by the president of her fan club, Eric Brook.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. The family invites you to find further information and leave notes on the website of Thomas Poteet & Son, www.thomaspoteet.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to a charity of the donor's choosing or to the Tybee Island Marine Science Center, P.O. Box 1879, Tybee Island, GA 31328.