Elaine Veronica Hopper died August 25, 2022, in Florence, Alabama, at the home of her beloved niece, after a courageous life marked by generosity and eccentricity. Born the third of four sisters in Hamilton County, Ohio, on August 17, 1940, Ms. Hopper gave her life in service to those around her.

The defining moments of her life occurred in her difficult childhood marked by illness and the stress of the Depression and war years. But she remembered to her last days the kindness of her beloved kindergarten teacher Mrs. Preston, finishing just weeks before she died a fictionalized account of the joy she had in Mrs. Preston’s classroom, titled “Have You Ever Whispered in a Giraffe’s Ear?” After kindergarten, Ms. Hopper attended various schools in and around Cincinnati, testing into the prestigious Walnut Hills High School before a family move required her to finish her K-12 education in the Miami-Dade County, Florida, school system.

After high school, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Unfortunately, the residual effects of a childhood bout with polio necessitated an early honorable discharge from the Corps. Then at her mother, Veronica Rogers Hopper’s encouragement, Ms. Hopper attended LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia, where she trained to be a history teacher. She spent the first years of her professional life at Jordan High School in Columbus, Georgia, where she nurtured her students and encouraged them in their post-high school lives. During the Vietnam War, she corresponded with several former students who had been drafted into service, mailing them Playboy magazines. She figured if you had to go overseas to die for your country you should be able to look at scantily clad women if you wanted.

When civil unrest in Cincinnati required her father to return to Ohio to maintain property, leaving her mother and younger sister alone at home, Ms. Hopper returned to Miami and finished her teaching career in the Miami-Dade system. She remained in Miami after retirement, volunteering at Shenandoah Elementary School, enjoying Friday night dinners with family, fellowshipping with her friends at the Silver Club of the First United Methodist Church, and knowing her dear neighbor Yvonne. In 2018, Ms. Hopper moved to north Alabama to be near her remaining sister in her sister’s final illness. After her move, Alabama relatives got the fun of joining “Aunt Laney” for Parcheesi games and jigsaw puzzles.

Throughout her life, Ms. Hopper was generous with her finances. A minimalist herself, she sponsored an orphan when she was in college and paid for her younger sister’s car. As she earned money through her teaching career, she bought cars for other family members as well and paid tuition for several nieces and nephews. These are just a few examples of her generosity. There would not be room, nor would Ms. Hopper want, for all her kindnesses to be listed. Suffice to say, if she had it, she was willing to give it away.

If she hadn’t been a teacher, Ms. Hopper easily could have been a novelist. She never met a story she couldn’t embellish and make better in the telling. There was nothing she liked better than hearing stories of other peoples’ lives, especially if they included an underdog overcoming adversity.

Though she struggled with forgiveness for those who cavalierly hurt others, she had a deep and abiding belief in God’s sovereignty over the earth and that He will prevail in His plan for humankind. She often quoted Longfellow, saying, “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail”—then in characteristic Laney fashion added a line of her own—“For God is ruler yet.” She liked to help God out by treating the discouraged to vacations and new school clothes, money for housing repairs, and fudge from the Punta Clara Kitchen in Point Clear, Alabama.

Ms. Hopper was preceded in death by her parents; three sisters, Carita Hopper Swanson Vonk, Effie Lou Hopper Lee and Merlene Charla Hopper; and one grandnephew, Aaron Blaine Lee.

She is survived by her brother-in-law, the Rev. A. Ray Lee of Hartselle, Alabama; nieces, Laura Lee Myer of Hartselle, Alabama, Dr. Jennifer Lee Morris and her husband, Scott of Florence, Alabama; nephews, Clint (Deidra) Lee of Hartselle, Alabama, Mark Swanson and Paul Swanson of Miami, Florida, and John (Michelle) Swanson of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 16 grandnieces and grandnephews, and 1 great-niece and 4 great-nephews.

The family wishes to thank Hospice of North Alabama, particularly Matt, Lisa and Michelle, for bringing joy into Ms. Hopper’s life in her final months.

Funeral will be Saturday, August 27, at 10:00 a.m. at Lebanon Baptist Church, Falkville, Alabama, where Ms. Hopper will be interred in the church cemetery next to her sister Effie. Visitation with the family in the church fellowship hall will follow the interment. Peck Funeral Home will be directing. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Memorial Fund of Lebanon Baptist Church, 1255 Hwy. 55 West, Falkville, AL 35622.

Support local journalism reporting on your community * New Subscribers Only * Digital Subscription Only After the initial selected subscription period your subscription rate will auto renew at $12.00 per month.

Brief, one-time notices of deaths are published in The TimesDaily and placed on our Web site at no charge. Obituaries, including funeral details and schedules, survivors and other personal information, are paid notices and may be placed by funeral directors on behalf of the family. If you wish to submit an obituary or death notice, simply email the text to us in its entirety to Obituaries@timesdaily.com.

Obituaries will be accepted only from funeral homes, or from an individual only when legal documentation is presented at our office, of that individual's executor status over the estate of the deceased. Obituaries must be received with prepayment before 4 p.m. for publication the following day. On holidays, obituaries must be received with prepayment before noon for publication the following day. If you have questions, please call (256)-340-2384.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our daily news?  Sign up today! 

Receive a daily newsletter containing a list of the day's funerals and obituaries.

Receive a weekly newsletter every Thursday about restaurant reviews and health ratings in the TimesDaily area.

Sign up to receive links to the Saturday and Monday comics and puzzles pages.

Help Select Player of the Week and get results Thursday & Saturday.