Today's Featured Biography

 
Pat Hopper

Upon graduation from high school, I began to aimlessly wander from job to job, and back & forth from Memphis to New Orleans.
I worked in several factories, and intermittently registered for classes at Memphis State, as necessary to maintain a student deferment. When student deferments became a thing of the past, I was pleasantly surprised to be classified 4-F due to a congenital lower back condition. In spite of this "infirmity," I worked in
several factories (Southern Metal Co., ArrowGlass Boat &, Manufacturing, Memphis Sash & Door, others), restaurants (The Godfather, Louisiana Cousin, and in New Orleans, Commander's Palace), and decking on the river (Memphis Marine, Ellis Marine, Warner & Tamble, B&R Dredge Co.). I was a Veterinarian's Assistant for a year at Raines Road Animal Clinic. I played guitar and sang for change and beer in numerous
local bars in Memphis and New Orleans, as well as on the streets of the French Quarter. Too hip, Jackson.

In Spring of 1975, I joined the Navy in Slidell, Louisiana. I never mentioned my 4-F status, and it never came up. I joined
for six years from the get-go. That was necessary to be assured of advanced electronics training. Thus, the first 1 1/2 years of my Navy career was spent in classrooms. After ET-A school in Great Lakes, IL, I went to training in satellite communications in San Diego, CA. I was then assigned to the USS Paul Revere, LPA-248,
homeported in Long Beach, CA. I will bore you with no further details. I spent the next several years partying.

Cut to the chase: I left the Navy in Spring of 1981. I was determined to avoid electronics at all costs. I returned to Tiger High, and completed a B.A. in psychology, and M.S. in Counseling. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with Mental
Health Service Provider designation. Who'd a thunk it?

While in school, I worked for the now defunct Northeast Community Mental Health Center. In 1987 I began working in Mental Health Services of Shelby County Division of Corrections (this was the largest prison in the state, the facility that Memphians insist on calling "the penal farm."). I retired from SCDC in August, 2007, spent five years in private practice and four years at Mark Luttrell Correction Center, which was a women's penitentiary at the time.

In addition to full-time work, from May of 1994 to January 2011, I spent every weekend and holiday dealing cards in Tunica County, Mississippi. I was at Fitzgeralds for six years, and at Gold Strike for approximately 11 years.

I currently work full time at Memphis VA Medical Center, in the Emergency Department.
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In 1983 I married Jane Ann Hill. In 1984, our daughter, Cassandra, was born. Cassandra graduated from The University of the South in Sewanee, TN in May, 2006. Our son, Trevor, was born in 1992. Cassandra gave birth to our grandchild, Arlo Sebastian Hopper, on January 12, 2010. She is married to Matt Houston.

Trevor is married to Rena Lu and was a swim coach at Germantown Athletic Club for many years. He is currently in sales at Superior Pool in Cordova.

My dear wife, Jane Ann battled metastatic breast cancer for many years and passed away on May 11, 2020.

Peace Out.

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