Lilian V. Hopkins

HANOVER, N.H.—Lilian V. (Paddy) Hopkins, 92, died Sunday evening, Nov. 5, 2006 at her home at Kendal at Hanover.

She was born in Oxford, England January 5, 1914, the seventh child and only daughter of Albert and Lilian Dubber (Earl). She attended Cowley St. John’s Girls’ School and the City of Oxford School of Art. After attending business school, she took an office job at Morris Motors in Oxford. There she met and married Tom Vaughan. Their twins, Peter and Felicity, were born in 1937.

In August, 1940, after the evacuation of the British army at Dunkirk, and as the Battle of Britain was beginning, she and the two children were evacuated to the United States. They landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia after a dangerous two-week passage throughout the North Sea, which was heavily patrolled by German U-boats. They first lived with their sponsor in Johnson City, Tenn. After a brief move to Florida, she and the children found a temporary home with a farm family in Minnesota.

With the war continuing, she was unable to return to England. She took an office job at the newly opened British consulate in St. Paul in 1943. She worked there for 23 years and eventually became British Vice Consul. Upon her retirement in 1966, she was awarded an M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire) which she received at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.

She had a great curiosity about life, people, and the world. She loved her crossword puzzles, a daily ritual, along with a cup of morning tea.

She married Percy Hopkins in Minneapolis, Min. in 1961. He died in 1994. She was also predeceased by her first husband, Tom Vaughan, in 1994, and by a granddaughter, Rachel Virginia Vaughan, in March, 2006.

Survivors include her daughter, Felicity Vaughan Swayze of Tunbridge; her son, Peter Hugh Vaughan, of St. Senoc, France; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date at the convenience of the family. Memorial contributions will be used to help support the staff at Kendal. Donations may be made payable to Kendal at Hanover, 80 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755 with the memo: "in memory of Paddy Hopkins."

Arrangements are under the direction of the Boardway & Cilley Funeral Home on Main Street in Chelsea.

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