PORTLAND — Douglas William Hopps died in Portland, Maine on October 17, 2019 after a long illness.

He was born in the hamlet of Garrison in the village of Cold Spring, NY on May 26, 1959. He went to school in West Hartford, CT, Westminster West, VT, and graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School, VT in 1977. He earned a certificate from the Franklin School of Business in 1993.

Douglas worked at Artech Electronics Ltd. in Burlington, VT. He later was manager at several retail stores in South Burlington, VT, and in 1996 moved to Albuquerque, NM for 9 years.

Returning to Bristol, VT he was a custodian and a para-educator at Bristol Elementary School. He did volunteer work at the Starksboro food bank.

He moved to Maine in 2015 to rejuvenate his life where he lived in Camden and Cumberland, and quickly developed new friendships in both communities. In Maine he worked at local grocery stores and volunteered for Furniture Friends and the Cumberland Wood Bank.

Douglas was good-natured and delightful with an innate sense of humor. He was a kind and gentle soul. Doug loved most all music genres, in particular rock n roll, Big Band 40s, classical; he was a big fan of artists from Ian Anderson to Antonio Vivaldi. He was a drummer at an early age, and played until recently, when he continued tapping out beats on his dashboard.

His greatest joy professionally was running his DJ business, Dance Around Sound. Douglas made cassette tapes, and later CDs, for family members that some of us still listen to today because of the great music mixes he created.

He is predeceased by his mother, Margaret Jean (Shaw) Foster in 2017; his stepmother, Ann Hopps in 2015; and his aunt, Joan Hopps in 2013.

Douglas is survived by his daughter, Burdena of Middlebury VT; his father Thomas Hopps of Camden, ME; and his siblings, Robin and her wife Wendy Sue Harper of Monkton, VT, Frederic and his wife Jette of Beverly, MA, Jonathan and his wife Tory Dietel Hopps of Cumberland, ME; and nieces, Inge, Kaja, Sara, Carly, and nephew, Sawyer.

Other family members include Lynn and Bill Cash, Davidson, NC, and family, Bruce and Sue Millar, Diablo, CA, and family, Keith Millar, NYC, NY, Leath Allyn Ashley, Yukon, OK and family, Craig Hamilton of
Glendora, CA, and David and Christy Shaw and family, Westbury, NY, and countless friends from California to Vermont.

Douglas will be missed greatly; yet the music in him will play on.

A celebration of Doug’s life will be held Saturday, November 23, at 2 p.m., at Southern Maine Community College, 122 McKernan Drive, South Portland, ME, 04106 in the McKernan Hospitality Center.

Donations in Doug’s name can be made to the organization of your choice.