Amelia Janssen Dopson

1941 - 2020

DOPSON, Amelia "Mimi" Janssen Amelia "Mimi" Dopson, 78, of Alpine, Texas, passed away on July 30, 2020. Mimi was born in La Grange, Texas, to Delvin and Margie Janssen on November 10, 1941. She attended La Grange High School, where she was an honor graduate, FFA and football sweetheart, and drum major for the La Grange High School band, among many other honors. In 1964, she graduated from the University of Texas with an undergraduate degree in English, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors and serving as feature twirler for the Longhorn Band. Years later, as her children entered grade school, she received her Masters in Communication, also from University of Texas at Austin. Mimi married Dr. Robert N. Dopson, III, on 28 June 1964 at St Paul's Lutheran Church in La Grange, then moved to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where Dr. Dopson served as a dentist. They started a private dental practice in Austin, Texas, in 1966. Mimi was the office manager for the last twenty years of their thirty year-long dental practice. During these years, the Dopsons were passionate about tennis, and Mimi and her daughter, Diana, won a mother-daughter USTA national tournament together. When she and Robert retired from their dental practice, they moved to Alpine, Texas, where they became successful potters. Mimi dedicated these years of her life to bringing beauty and art into the world. Mimi was a true fighter, and gracefully handled 16 years of Parkinson's disease with the devoted help of her husband. She always was looking forward to the next adventure and never dwelled in the past. She and Robert loved to travel, and their trips almost always had a pottery theme as they searched out master potters in Japan, Tuscany, and Canada with whom to study. She is survived by her loving husband, Robert; daughter Diana Dopson of Austin; son Richard Dopson and his wife Alexis, and children Milla, Will, and Ryan of Dallas; son William and his wife Jennifer, and children Olivia and Emily of Houston; sister Margaret Donaldson and her husband John of Georgetown; sister Joanie Nietsche and her husband Bennie of Austin; brother John Janssen and his wife Michelle of Dallas. Memorials may be given to KRTS Public Radio in Marfa, Texas.