WEST PARIS — Danielle M. Hopkins, 38, left this world far too soon on Monday, February 23, 2026, following injuries sustained in an automobile accident in Norway.

Born in Brunswick on April 12, 1987, Danielle was raised in Union by her mother, Dawna Newcomb Blake and stepfather, John Blake. She attended Medomak Valley High School, where the roots of her independent spirit were already beginning to take hold.

Danielle was a free spirit in the truest sense, someone who felt most at home with her hands in the earth and the wind at her back. She had a remarkable gift for nurturing living things, coaxing beautiful plants and flowers into bloom with what seemed like effortless grace. As an herbalist who embraced off-the-grid living, she found joy and purpose in the rhythms of the natural world, choosing a life that was honest, grounded, and wholly her own.

In recent years, Danielle had embarked on one of the most courageous journeys a person can undertake. For four years, she devoted herself fully to her sobriety, not simply as a goal, but as a daily act of love for herself and for her two boys. She sought out spirituality with an open and searching heart, studying its many layers and listening for what she called the rhythm of the universe. Each morning she wrote in her journal, filling its pages with reflections, intentions, and the small affirmations that lit her way forward.

Danielle had a natural gift for guidance that made her something of a quiet teacher to those around her. Her siblings looked up to her deeply, and she was the one they turned to in times of joy, uncertainty, heartbreak, and everything in between. She always seemed to have the right words, the kind that landed gently but stayed with you long after the conversation had ended. She never made anyone feel small for not knowing something, but instead met each person where they were and helped lift them higher. Whether offering encouragement during a difficult moment or simply reminding someone of their own strength, Danielle had a way of making the people she loved feel seen, capable, and never alone.

She was also a collector of beautiful things, a wonderfully curated closet of trinkets and thrifted treasures spoke to her eye for beauty and her belief that the world is full of hidden gems, if only you take the time to look.

Danielle was a radiant light, and the space she leaves behind will be deeply felt by everyone fortunate enough to have known and loved her.

Danielle is survived by her parents, Dawna and John Blake of Union; her sons, Blake O’Donnell of Waldoboro and Liam Hanscom of Dresden; her siblings, Ryan Hopkins, Devon Blake, Ashley Blake and her daughter Gloria Grubb both of Union, Ed Densmore; a sister-in-law, Brittany Lopez and her daughter Lexi Hopkins; and her new-found soulmate, Richard ‘Rich’ Fritz of West Paris.

Danielle was especially close to her friends who were more like family, especially, her ‘twin-soul-sister’ Dominique Sandblom, Allie Harris, Carolyn Williams, Kasey Blood and Shannon Achorn; most recently she had formed a close relationship with her ‘work-mom’ Lynne. Danielle also leaves behind many other friends from her ‘mountain days’; and countless other friends, too many to name, whose lives will never be the same after knowing her.

Family and friends are invited to visit Monday, March 9, 2026, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.

To share a memory or condolence with Danielle’s family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.