Marc Hopkins

Marc Hopkins was granted his eternal hunting & fishing license on Saturday, April 12th, 2025.

Marc Hopkins was born January 24, 1942 to Joseph Hopkins (“the ornery old bastard” & “horses ass”) and Muriel (Moore) Hopkins Adams in Rockford, IL.

Marc moved to Wisconsin where he met the love of his life, Ruth Drake. The two married on April 6th, 1974 and built a home in rural Cambridge, WI in 1977 with the help of Ruth’s father Alvi Drake, friend and builder Ray Holtan, and other friends & family. Marc always said “I will die in this house”...but life had other plans for him. Together they had two children: Matthew Joseph and Pamala Ruth.

Marc became known as the “King of Olia Rd” and eventually the longest living resident on the road. He enjoyed taking care of his property, plowing neighbors driveways with his four-wheeler, building a horse pasture and barn “for that old nag” as he called his daughter's horse, Spree. Spree always liked Marc the best. Marc also rebuilt a horse trailer to haul them to horse shows, where his favorite thing to say to the youngins was “are we havin’ fun yet?” and laugh. He was known to send a bottle rocket or two across the field to his neighbor, Cindy Brady while she was gardening.

He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish. Many nights after work in the summer, he would take his boat to Lake Kegonsa to go fishing with Pamala and his old fishing buddy Wayne. Pamala was raised in a boat, he’d say. HIs buddies called him “Hoppy”; which he named his homemade fishing lures he constructed with Pamala after; “Hoppy Bait”.

Marc and Pamala would take their German Shorthaired Pointers on pheasant hunting trips, where Pamala could be found sleeping alongside a trail a time or two. They also hunted squirrels, morel mushrooms and spent many days on the creek banks fishing trout with their buddy “Skinny”. He shot a trophy buck at his in-laws' property that he was so proud of. He always loved seeing his grandson harvest bucks, including a “buck of a lifetime” not once but twice. He was so proud, and Caden made sure to save the heart and make his grandpa a heart sandwich with each harvest.

He was a lifetime member of the Stoughton Conservation Club and helped to build the original clubhouse, with Pamala in tow. He would eventually give his daughter away in marriage at the conservation club. Marc spent many years on the archery league and trap team. He travelled to many local trap shoots, earning himself 25-50-75-100 straights.

Marc worked at Ohmeda (now GE Heathcare) for 42 years, he received an award for his longevity and “training all the supervisors”; the crowd laughed and cheered, because it was true. His daughter also worked there for several years as well. That is where Marc said he had “the best time of his life”. He forged many life-long friends from Ohmeda; including those friends in his wedding party. They also went on hunting, fishing, camping, four-wheeler and snowmobile trips. He even rode his snowmobile to work in the winter when he couldn’t get there by road! Those friends would tell you that Marc would give you his last dollar and a place to sleep, he was a kind hearted man who would help anyone.

Marc was honored to be a lifetime member of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, receiving his gold card in 2015. He served many years on the union committe at Ohmeda and attended union meetings well into his retirement. His son-in-law and him were opposites in this regard and one was “a dirty democrat” and the other was “the fuckin’ republican”.

Marc also enjoyed collecting and framing wildlife prints. He started Hopkins Framing as a hobby to frame prints for himself, friends and family.

Together, Marc and Ruth visited all 48 contiguous states in retirement and he spent much of his retirement “driving Miss Ruthie” as he loved to say. Marc also went to Canada and Alaska fishing with friends. He spent many years travelling to Gettysburg, SD with Rod Lee to participate in the Clark Lions Edwin Seefeldt Memorial Fishing Tournament, at South Whitlock Resort on the Missouri River. There he made more life-long friends with the Seefeldt family. Marc said one of the best things about his wife was “she let me go fishing whenever I wanted”.

Marc and Pamala also volunteered for Fishing Has No Boundaries for several years.

Marc was handy and could build and fix anything. He helped his daughter remodel her first house and of course made friends with all the neighbors. Marc and Pamala enjoyed finding new places for Friday night suppers, and joked that if they missed a week at one place it would close down (it really happened!).

In 2010, the light of Marc’s life was born - his favorite grandson, Caden. Marc enjoyed carting Caden everywhere with him. Marc took Caden with him to spend some weekends in Richland Center with friend Glen Hewuse Jr. who shared the same birthday as his grandson. They quickly taught Caden the ways of the old guys - looking for deer, trout fishing, groaning when standing up. Caden uses grandpa’s shotgun to shoot trap and skeet and grandpa Marc could not be more proud of him to be following in his footsteps. Caden was an old-soul and enjoyed helping his grandpa as they both aged. He cut grandpa’s hair and beard for him when he could no longer get to the barber. Caden was so good with him at the end of his days, sitting with him, talking to him even when Marc could no longer talk (he got the gift of gab from Marc!). During their last visit, he reached up to Caden and took his hat off and held it the rest of the day. They had a special bond.

In 2014 another light of Marc’s life was born - his favorite granddaughter, Callie. Marc enjoyed hosting sleepovers with Callie, McDonalds treats and trips to “the Walmart” so she could shop for toys. She also enjoyed playing nurse with Grandpa Marc, taking care of his bandages after coming home from surgeries. The two would play cards, color, and do word searches while Callie sat on the arm of his chair, leaning into thim. Callie was so excited the grandpa was able to see her 11th birthday. He was even able to see her turkey she shot, only a few hours before he passed away. She was “grandpa’s girl”. He also enjoyed taking both kids for Friday Fish frys at Nora’s and the VFW.

In 2021 Marc had the fight of his life - brain surgery to remove a large meningioma (benign, non-cancerous tumor) and spent 68 days in hospitals and rehabs to retrain his brain, fight infections, and regain his strength. Marc was not a good candidate for this life threatening surgery; but he amazed everyone and made it out of surgery with flying colors. Within the next few years Marc had both knees replaced. He had a zest for life and the will to live.

When Pamala was born, he said he’d never see her graduate high school, even betting money with friends. He lost that bet. His dad and brothers all passed in their 40s and 50s. A doctor once told him he had the “good genes”.

Most recently Marc said on his 83rd birthday “boy, I never thought I’d live to be this old” and his daughter joked that she “never thought he’d live to be such a pain in the ass” and they laughed.

In March of 2025, Marc was again met with a health problem. This time, it would be the one that would take him; pancreatic cancer. He had no pain, no symptoms aside from jaundice. He wanted to fight the cancer, but his kidneys had other plans and started failing and refusing to get better, making fighting the cancer impossible. He was so very sad to hear this news, he had the fight left in him and wanted to live, but the only option was hospice. He was sadly too weak to attempt any sort of treatment.

“I never thought this is how I would go” he said, with tear filled eyes. He always made sure he made friends with all of his nurses, doctors, and housekeepers. He made sure to call them by name and get their life stories. Mat, a special nurse at St. Mary’s in Madison made it a point to sit and talk with him about his “bad and worse news” and how he felt about it, which Marc truly appreciated and apologized to Mat, for “having to see me this way”.

A special thank you to family friend Mick Thayer for the visits and casino trips, and putting up with Marc & Skinny all those years. A special thank you to Kimberly Oakley who helped Marc and his family during his final battle; she was incredibly helpful and Marc enjoyed her visits. A special thank you to neighbor Cindy Brady for being the “eyes of Olia Rd” and the meals, along with Mara, Cindy’s daughter for visiting Marc and holding his hand. A special thank you to the Valdovinos & Hill families and Shawn’s friend Tom for special deliveries. A special thank you to the Kettner Family for taking Caden out for a fun day and letting Pamala find out how badly she needed to throw an axe. A special thank you also to Shawn’s parents Debbie and Claire Friedli for helping with rides and with the kids. A special thank you to Mike & Sherry Friedli for treating him like family and visiting him in Hospice. A special thank you to Chad Kruger for guiding Pamala through end of life care, along with Brenda Shields who shared how outstanding Monroe Hospice Home was and her story made it clear that is where Marc belonged (despite the hour drive). And lastly, thank you to the staff at the Monroe Hospice Home, even though Marc was only there 10 days, you made him feel at home. Even when he couldn’t talk to us, we learned that he was able to share some stories with his nurses.

Marc is survived by Ruth, his wife of 51 years, daughter Pamala (Shawn) Goecks, grandkids Caden age 14 & Callie age 11.

Marc is preceded in death by his parents Joe & Muriel, step-dad Floyd Adams, brothers Monte & Miles Hopkins, son Matthew and many friends, dogs, and “that damn horse”.

A celebration of life will be held from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at the Stoughton Conservation Club, 918 Collins Road, Stoughton, with a shotgun sendoff at 2:00 PM.

Please share your memories of Marc by posting in his Guestbook.

Cress Funeral Services

206 W. Prospect Street, Stoughton

(608) 873-9244