Harvey L Hopp

Harvey L. Hopp died May 31, 2012 after a several-month illness. A memorial service will be held 11:00 A.M. Saturday, June 16, 2012 at the First Unitarian Church of Sioux City, 2508 Jackson St. Arrangements are under the direction of Nelson-Berger Northside Chapel. Online condolences can be directed to meyerbroschapels.com. He lived his 85 years in Moville Iowa, hauling livestock and grain from farms to market for most of those years. He started working with his father, even driving while excused from high school classes during wartime. He was self-employed, an owner-operator who developed life-long friendships with many of his customers. Although he worked long, hard hours, he was an avid gardener with a particular passion for heirloom tomatoes, could patiently and endlessly fish without a bite and could not say "no" to anyone who needed help. He was a builder. He and a handful of helpers built the family home; he made furniture with wood he harvested from black walnut trees, milling them and turning them into chairs, tables, sofas and beds. He would tromp through local woodlands to find wild berries and mushrooms. Harvey enlisted in the Navy after graduating in 1944 from Moville High School, later named Woodbury Central, and was stationed on the USS Hoist (ARS-40), a search and recovery ship in the final years of World War II. He was an active member of the First Unitarian Church of Sioux City, a usual volunteer whenever there was a job to do whether it be a service project, something to be fixed or a garden to be tended. In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to the First Unitarian Church of Sioux City or Hospice of Siouxland, whose nurses and staff took such good care of Harvey in his waning months. In 1951, Harvey married a nurse, Linda Ralston, who survives him. They had three children - Mark (Fonda) of Marshalltown, Iowa, Daniel (Linda) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Lisa of Valparaiso, Indiana. They and brother, Harold Hopp of Mason City, Iowa, along with six grandchildren and ten great grandchildren survive him. His extended family includes many nieces, nephews and their children. His parents, Henry and Emma Hopp, and brother Henry, all of Moville, preceded him in death.