Robert Nielsen Hopkins, 93

MILTON - Robert Nielsen Hopkins, 93, of Milton, passed away peacefully with family by his side at his farmhouse near Coolspring on Wednesday, July 29, 2009. He was born Oct. 7, 1915, in Milton. He was the son of Dr. Robert Black Hopkins and Marie Nielsen Hopkins. He is survived by his wife Connie M. Hopkins, of 53 years; his four sons, Peter M. Hopkins of Placentia, Calif., Mark Hopkins of Milton, James A. Hopkins of Milton, and Josiah N. Hopkins of Drexel Hill, Pa.; and 14 grandchildren. A niece, Patsy Crabb of Milford, also survives him. He was preceded in death by his sister, Winnifred Hopkins; and brothers, James A. Hopkins, and John A. Hopkins Sr., all of Milton. He was a man of many talents and occupations. He was a graduate from Milton High School. After graduating high school, he worked on the family farm farming and raising nursery stock, then going on to attend The University of Delaware where he earned a Bachelors in Chemistry, Class of 1939. At the time of his passing he was the oldest living UD Alumni. He went back to Milton High School to become a teacher and taught geometry and Industrial Arts classes. He also was a school bus driver before and after school. During World War II, he was employed by Allied Chemical and Dye Co., as a Chemist. He went on to start his own business, Neilsen Incorporated, making his own custom designs and graphics for furniture slipcovers. He also worked for a time for Continental Diamond & Fiber Co. In 1962, he accepted a position at the University of Pennsylvania in the Physics Department as a research specialist. While there he helped setup lab experiments for students and his extensive research helped continuously improve on techniques and lab procedures. Before retiring in 1980 he wrote many research papers and articles that appeared in the American Journal Of Physics. Mr. Hopkins enjoyed spending the summers as a boy on Broadkill Beach swimming, fishing, and boating. He spent many summer vacations there with family and stayed current with local events. His hobbies and interests were numerous and varied, they included daily watching of the commodity and futures markets, the origins of the universe, writing scientific papers dealing with pollution of the inland bays, the big bang theory, photo-electric effect and many more. He loved to read and he loved to converse with people and share ideas especially with younger people. Mr. Hopkins was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He cherished his close family ties and friends and loved getting together with them. He was a humble man full of pride, but not prideful who put others before himself up to the very end. He loved nature and animals and one of his favorite things was a Sunday drive with his wife around the Prime Hook wildlife refuge. He had a love for the land that was strongly instilled and passed along to his children and grandchildren. He believed strongly that farmland and open spaces needed to be preserved for future generations and he was proud his family in Sussex had been doing that for well over 200 years. He loved Delaware and was proud to be a Sussex Countian. He also loved researching and talking about genealogy. Services are private. Condolences may be sent to rnhcondolences@earthlink.net. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to: Salvation Army, 701 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123; or Vitas Hospice Care, 100 Commerce Dr., Suite 302, Newark, DE 19713. Arrangements handled by Short Funeral Services, Milton.