Amy Christine Hopkins

Amy Christine Hopkins, designer and artist, entrepreneur and college professor, passed away on December 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas, following a brave battle with cancer. Her death deeply saddens her husband, Mark Shuman, parents, sister, uncle and her beloved nieces, and the many friends, associates and students whose lives and hearts she touched in 52 years of a life well and fully lived. Her warm and kind soul, vibrant spirit, wise intelligence, strength and fervent passion for her creative and vocational endeavors and personal and social interests shall live on in a cherished place in the hearts and memories of all that knew and loved her.

Born on December 10, 1970 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Amy moved with her parents and sister to midcoast Maine when she was four years old, living first in Rockport and then Camden, where she grew up in a place of natural beauty that remained a nourishing touchstone throughout her life; to wit, she kept a collection of special stones from the Maine beaches that she would add to after every trip home. From an early age Amy embraced the bountiful realm of land and sea that surrounded her, spending as much time as she could outdoors throughout her youth, and started gardening as a lifelong pursuit. Her innate love of animals was nurtured by her childhood time on her grandparents land and regional legend Andre the Seal.

Amy's core creative ardor for art, design, apparel and fashion that became her avocation blossomed early as she avidly sewed, crafted and created from childhood on. In high school she enjoyed and excelled at basketball, aided by her height, as well as playing other sports, and also took up the saxophone, an outgrowth of her deep love for music.

After graduating high school, Amy moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree before embarking on her career in the fashion industry, beginning as an intern while still in school. During her college years she began to establish her design style and began developing handbags, apparel and various accessories that served her well working for such firms as Liz Claiborne, Olivet International and Pyramid Accessories. Amy not only designed but would also oversee the production process for products to ensure best results, and was proud that her work could be found in such mass-market retail stores as Target, EF Corp, Kohls, Macy's and J.C. Penney, to name just some.

She was a pioneering new resident of Williamsburg, Brooklyn as it rose to prominence as the city's hippest neighborhood. It was there that Amy met Shuman, and she immediately knew they would be together, though the two didn't start dating until about a year later. He proposed to her in December 2004 under the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, followed by drinks at the legendary Rainbow Room atop 30 Rock. They married on July 30, 2005 in the historical Rockport Opera House in Maine surrounded by friends and family. They then honeymooned in Nova Scotia.

The couple bought a house in Austin in 2003, and initially divided their time between Texas and New York. Amy's considerable charms as a social facilitator brought together a range of her and Mark's friends for regular rooftop parties in the City and backyard soirees in Austin. Her gifts as a cook and baker and charm as a hostess were a highlight of these events.

Eventually the two made Austin their home base. When their nephew (Ayrton Cable) moved in with them for two years to finish high school, Amy fully embraced the challenges and rewards of being a mother figure to a teenager.

Her international career afforded Amy (and Mark) the opportunity to enjoy traveling to such locales as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The two also visited Japan, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Puerto Rico and Mexico together. In 2021, they logged 7,800 miles on the highways of North America with their travel trailer; Mark treasures the memory of watching a gorgeous sunset over Lake Erie together in a state park in upstate New York on their wedding anniversary.

Despite thriving in her chosen profession, she actively broadened her work pursuits, taking courses in 2005 at Texas A&M University to become a licensed florist, and then providing beautiful arrangements for weddings, special occasions and retail on South Congress in Austin. Amy eventually launched her own company, Mode Cast Design & Marketing. Working as an instructor at Austin Community College awoke a love of teaching in her (even during her illness, Amy was able to return to teaching and it nourished her). She eventually joined the school's staff as an adjunct professor and was a pivotal force in expanding and enhancing ACC's Fashion department. Amy was also an active volunteer at Austin Pets Alive! working with the most troubled animals, always in search of home for them, exemplifying her giving spirit. She was a devoted dog mom to her and Mark's canines Zoli, Iggy and Pee-wee.

Her memorial service will be held January 21, 2023 at 1 PM at the Charles Johnson House in Austin, Texas.

Her family requests that in lieu of flowers or other such tributes that all who loved Amy consider donating to the memorial scholarship fund for the Fashion program that they have established at Austin Community College.

http://www.amyscholarship.fund

If ever thou shalt love,

In the sweet pangs of it remember me;

For such as I am all true lovers are:

Unstaid and skittish in all motions else

Save in the constant image of the creature

That is belov'd,

- William Shakespeare, "Twelfth Night"