John D. Hopper (January 9, 1923 – June 12, 1996) was a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

from the 31st district, serving from 1977 to 1992.

Biography

John D. Hopper was born on January 9, 1923, and attended

Camp Hill High School Camp Hill High School is a coeducational public high school located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Camp Hill School District and is the smallest public high school in Cumberland County. It is located approximately ten minutes from t ...

. In 1941, Hopper enrolled at

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

before joining the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

as a volunteer and becoming a fighter pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In his freshman year at Dickinson, Hopper met and married Ann Bowman, with whom he later had four children. He returned to Dickinson after the war in 1945 and graduated in 1948. Turning down an offer to play professional basketball with the

St. Louis Bombers The St. Louis Bombers were a National Basketball Association team based in St. Louis from 1946 to 1950. Franchise history The St. Louis Bombers were originally part of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. The BAA merged wit ...

, Hopper received his law degree in 1951 from the

Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of The Pennsylvania State University. According to Penn State Dickinson Law's 2019 ...

. Hopper worked in the insurance industry until his election in 1976 to the

to represent the 31st district. He served until retiring in 1992 and was a member of the Judiciary, Community and Economic Development, Labor and Industry, Military and Veterans Affairs, and the Public Health and Welfare committees. He died, aged 73, on June 12, 1996. Hopper held a degree from the American College of Life Underwriters and was inducted into the Dickinson College Sports Hall of Fame in 1972 in recognition of his varsity basketball career there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, John Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators 1923 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American politicians Dickinson College alumni Dickinson School of Law alumni United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II People from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania American World War II fighter pilots United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Pennsylvania