Benjamin Hopkins, 80, Tiverton

Posted 5/27/16

Benjamin Hopkins, 80, of Tiverton, and North Palm Beach, Florida, passed away Tuesday, May 17, 2016 ,at Newport hospital. Born on April 20, 1936, in Manchester, NH, Ben is the son of the late …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Benjamin Hopkins, 80, Tiverton

Posted

Benjamin Hopkins, 80, of Tiverton, and North Palm Beach, Florida, passed away Tuesday, May 17, 2016 ,at Newport hospital. Born on April 20, 1936, in Manchester, NH, Ben is the son of the late Benjamin and Ethel Milne Hopkins.

He leaves behind his partner of 51 years, Leo Berube. Ben and Leo met in the shadow of the Hatch Shell, Boston, and enjoyed a remarkable and joyous life.

Ben was a classically trained pianist at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Ben's love of the opera was his passion and creating gourmet cuisine with family and friends was a constant. Ben and Leo traveled throughout Europe on land and sea. They resided in a succession of homes in Rhode Island and Florida. Together they were active seasonal parishioners of Trinity Church, Newport. Ben was most praised and will fondly be remembered and cherished for his luscious rum cake. He was a remarkable sea cook, sailing on a number of vessels along coastal Rhode Island and Massachusetts as well as the east and west coasts of Florida.

Ben retired as head librarian from Mass College of Art in 1987 after serving there for 20 years. Among other accomplishments he was proud to have grown the slide collection from 2,000 to 80,000 images during his tenure.

Besides his lifelong companion, he leaves behind his sisters, Dolores Boykin and Natalie Lagasse of New Hampshire, along with several nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be celebrated at Trinity Church, Queen Anne Square, Newport on Sunday, June 12, at 5:30pm. Special thanks to Newport Hospital and Wilbur Romano Funeral Home for their care and comfort.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.