In Memory

Derek Hopkins

Derek Hopkins -- or "Hoppy", as he was always known -- was a well-liked pupil with an upbeat and steadfast character.  He was an excellent swimmer and was a prominent member of the school swimming team.  During and after his school years, Derek was a familiar presence on Durban beaches, where he was a regular swimmer and surfer.  He retained his enjoyment of the beach for the rest of his life, and never lived far from the ocean wave.


 

Derek completed training at the Air Force Gymnasium before starting work in the tile installation business.  He married Patricia Barker in 1968 and they had two sons, Nigel and Alan.  Both boys attended DHS.  In a great tragedy for all the family, Nigel died in a gun accident in his sixth form year of 1990.

For some 40 years Derek was managing director of Durban Tiling Services and Duratile Designs.  The company was the leading supplier and installer of tiles in Durban, known for its business integrity and the quality and reliability of its work.  In these respects, the company was very much a reflection of Derek's personality.   

Derek and Pat acquired a beach cottage for holidays and weekend retreats in Pennington on the Natal south coast, where Derek enjoyed swimming, fishing, and preparing braais for guests.

Derek was a keen supporter of the class of 1961 activities, and attended our three-day reunion in 2011, lingering after every event for friendly chats with old comrades.  Here he is with classmate Nolan Wood:

In 2017 Derek and Pat emigrated to Australia, where his son's family had moved some years previously.  Derek soon introduced himself to the local fauna:

The entire family lived in the city of Gold Coast on the eastern shores of the continent, which, as  Derek observed, is "like Durban of old'.  Indeed, Gold Coast is a clean, green, and handsome town strung along miles of golden sand beaches, where the sun rises over the ocean to reveal the surfers arriving with their boards.  Here are Derek and Pat, with Gold Coast's famed Surfers Paradise beach in the background:
 

Derek and Pat made a return visit to South Africa in 2019.  They took the opportunity of visiting the school where they were welcomed by the then headmaster, Tony Pinheiro:

Unfortunately Pat became chronically ill not long after their return, and Derek became her devoted full-time carer.

Derek's last personal contact with a classmate was an animated lunch in Gold Coast with a visiting Ian Robertson in April of 2023.  There, Hoppy was entirely his old self -- alert, engaged, sociable, and physically vigorous.   He still had his notorious bone-cruncher hand-shake!

In September 2023, a scan detected a small lesion on one of Derek's lungs.  He underwent surgery to remove the lesion, but the surgeon noted further spread of a cancer and decided to remove the entire lung.  Unfortunately Derek did not recover from this procedure after he was discharged..  He had serious difficulty in breathing and was readmitted to hospital, where his condition worsened.  Derek passed away on 19 November, 2023.

Derek Hopkins is survived by Pat, his wife of 55 years; his son Alan; his daughter-in-law Shelley; and his two grandsons David and Andrew.

                     

 

[Special thanks to Nick Gray for his help with this In Memory notice]