Memorable Manitobans: Warren Jackson “Jack” Hopwood (1914-1974)

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Warren Jackson Hopwood
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Insurance agent, sportsman.

Born at Minneapolis, Minnesota on 9 August 1914, son of Warren Jackson Hopwood (1891-1946) and Helen Harriet McDermott (1894-1976), he was educated at Choate School (Connecticut) and Dartmouth College (New Hampshire). Following his parents’ divorce, in 1924 his mother relocated to Winnipeg and married George A. Carruthers. He served as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War then, from 1945, was employed as an agent with the Great West life Assurance Company. He served as President of the Winnipeg Life Underwriters Association.

On 6 April 1940, he married Alix Elizabeth Perrin (1919-2012), daughter of John D. Perrin and Ruth Taylor Litle (1888-1986). Together they had four sons: Jackson Perrin “Jack” Hopwood (1942-2020), Michael Mars Hopwood (1944-2007), Andrew Warren Hopwood, and Terrence Judd Hopwood. They resided at 106 Handsart Boulevard and later at 415 Park Boulevard North, and had a summer residence on an island in Lake of the Woods. A sports enthusiast, he was President of St. Charles Country Club (1970-1973) and President of the Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club (1947-1948, 1958-1962, 1967-1969). He was a member of the organizing committee as Sports Chairman for the 1967 Pan Am Games, coached minor hockey, baseball and football at the Tuxedo Community Club, and was an executive member of Hockey Canada. He was a trustee for the Lakeside Fresh Air Camp.

He died suddenly of a heart attack on 5 March 1974 while playing doubles squash with his sons at the Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club and was interred at Green Acres Memorial Gardens following a service at St. George’s Crescentwood Anglican Church. Honorary pallbearers were W. A. Rose, W. H. McWilliams, J. N. Connacher, A. Sweatman, D. Sprague, D. J. Jessiman, R. S. Malone, J. Collins, A. R. Williams, A. F. S. Arnett, L. D. McMurray, M. G. Moncrieff, G. K. Gosko, C. Ravenswood, R. Claire Leatherdale, A. S. Leach, J. S. Stevenson, G. T. Richardson, J. R. Isaac, M. A. P. Frost, W. L. Palk, C. G. Dilts, G. R. MacKenzie, Joseph Harris, J. D. Riley, D. A. McCarthy, James Tennant, W. Meronek, and James Richardson. Active pallbearers were E. H. Moncrieff, W. C. Gardner, E. A. Lemon, A. E. Robertson, Dr. A. D. Bracken, and Dr. D. Parkinson.

He is commemorated by the Jack Hopwood Trophy for golf at the St. Charles Country Club, the Jack Hopwood Memorial Award at the Great West Life Assurance Company to “an advisor who best emulates Jack Hopwood’s dedication to the community,” the Jack Hopwood Lounge at the Winnipeg Squash Racquet Club in recognition of his leadership role in construction of the club’s building, and Hopwood Drive in Winnipeg.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Wilson House (106 Handsart Boulevard, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Beautiful bridal planned for Alix Elizabeth Perrin and Warren Jackson Hopwood,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 April 1940, page 11.

“Hopwood – Perrin vows exchanged Saturday in brilliant setting,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 April 1940, page 6.

“Active sportsman, Jack Hopwood dead,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 March 1974, page 53.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 6 March 1974, page 31.

Obituary [Michael Mars Hopwood], Winnipeg Free Press, 19 May 2007.

Obituary [Jackson Perrin Hopwood], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 February 2020.

This page was prepared by John Perrin and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 February 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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