Johns Hopkins Jr., financial analyst

Posted 11/20/13

Johns Hopkins Jr., 82, a financial analyst and an advocate for social justice, died Nov. 8 at his home in Chestnut Hill.

Mr. Hopkins retired in 1988 after serving as a financial analyst with the …

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Johns Hopkins Jr., financial analyst

Posted

Johns Hopkins Jr., 82, a financial analyst and an advocate for social justice, died Nov. 8 at his home in Chestnut Hill.

Mr. Hopkins retired in 1988 after serving as a financial analyst with the Philadelphia Electric Co. for 28 years.

He also was a founding member and trustee of the Phoebus Fund, a family foundation set up in 1986 to promote social justice and change. Most recently the foundation has been focused on The Phoebus Criminal Justice Initiative, addressing fundamental problems and inequities within the criminal justice system through grant making.

Mr. Hopkins was a namesake and collateral descendant of Johns Hopkins, of Baltimore, Md., founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital and University.

A lover of nature and the outdoors, he served from 1990 to 2009 as a trustee and treasurer for the Bird Sanctuary in Prout’s Neck, Maine, where he had spent summers since he was a boy. As a trustee, he oversaw the care of the 15-acre sanctuary in the center of Prout's Neck, including maintenance of the boardwalks and trails. He was an active member of the Prout’s Neck Audubon Society and the Nonesuch Oar and Paddle Club.

Known to his friends as “Doc,” Mr. Hopkins was born in Wynnewood. He attended Episcopal Academy and graduated from Phillips Exeter School, where he was on the wrestling and track teams. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he played football.

He served as a lieutenant in the Marines from 1953 to 1957 in Hawaii and Japan.

A longtime member of St. Martin's in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill, he was head of the Liturgist Committee and head of lectors. He trained lay people to read the lessons and regularly attended Bible study groups.

For the last eight years, he was an active member of the Stephen Ministry, a group that accompanies people in crisis through difficult times. In 1985 he traveled to Nicaragua as part of a diocesan Committee on Peacemaking, composed of laypersons, clergy and officials, to attend a ceremony that included President Daniel Ortega and members of the Nicaraguan government.

Earlier he taught Sunday School and started the Children's Chapel at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill.

He was a member of Friends of the Wissahickon and supported projects to preserve the Wissahickon watershed.

Mr. Hopkins is survived by his wife, the former Mary Randall; nine children; 14 grandchildren, and a sister, Polly Biddle.

Memorial donations may be made to the Outreach Fund at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, 8000 St. Martin's Lane, Philadelphia 19118, or to The Sanctuary Fund, Prout's Neck Association, 499 Black Point Rd., Scarborough, ME 04074. – WF

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