Martha Hopkinson

Martha “Jean” Hopkinson passed away January 2, 2023 in Yakima, Washington at the age of 94. She was born in Marion, Kentucky, April 6, 1928 to Oscar and Hattie Bright, and she grew up the eldest of 12 siblings in Shelbyville, Indiana. In 1944, Jean married Ray Mitchell, a Methodist Minister and Chaplain in the United States Air Force. They raised two children, Sheerie and Timothy, while stationed in military bases around the world, including Frankfurt, Germany. In the 1960s she trained as a licensed practical nurse at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington. She then served as a nurse at Lakewood General Hospital for several years, providing care for patients there. Following her divorce, Jean married Ray Hopkinson, a Tacoma Police Detective in 1972. After he retired from the police department, the couple moved to Goose Prairie, Washington, into an idyllic house on the banks of the Bumping River. Jean loved her home there, and the location became a lovely destination for family holidays and other joyous occasions. In the 1980s Jean opened her home as a bed and breakfast inn, and she entertained people from across the country for more than a decade as a gracious host and innkeeper in the heart of the William O. Douglas Wilderness Area. The “Hopkinson House” won awards from travel books and magazines as a place of relaxation, hospitality, and delicious meals. Jean lived a deeply spiritual life and saw nature as her cathedral, taking long walks in the forest, climbing the mountains, hunting for mushrooms, and picking huckleberries. She also renewed her faith as a Methodist and attended Wesley United Methodist Church in Yakima in her later life. She was the regal matriarch of an extensive family who loved her dearly. She was preceded in death by her son Tim Hopkinson and her husband Ray Hopkinson. She is survived by her daughter Sheerie Slatton, her two grandsons, David and Dylan Slatton, and her four great-grandchildren, Amelia, Evangeline, Holden, and Kellan Slatton who all live in the Seattle area. She is also survived by her siblings Madeline Warfield, Oscar “Wink” Bright, Edith May Gehring, Sandra Coffee, and her niece Kimberly Thurston all of Shelbyville, Indiana, as well as extended family members in Kentucky and Indiana. Thank you to her dear friends Dr. Bill and Meranda Cox for the love and care they gave to Jean and her family over the years. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to Yakima Hospice Services at memfound.org. A celebration of life service will be held to honor Jean at a later date. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Martha Hopkinson, please visit our flower store.