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Dan and Norma Hopper celebrate their 50th
wedding anniversary, June 5th, 2010.

They were married on the first Sunday in June, (Pentecost Sunday) which was June 5th, 1960 at 3:30 pm at Zion Lutheran Church in St. Paris, Ohio. This was the church Norma was baptized and confirmed in as a teenager. Norma’s two sisters stood up with her. Harriet Kuntzman and Judy Franklin and Dan’s brothers Estel and David Hines stood up with Dan. Best man was Harriet’s husband, Bob. Ring bearer was Dan’s youngest brother, Raymon Hines, Jr. Flower girl was Norma’s little neighbor girl, Mary May.

After the ceremony, a reception was held at the church where they opened their gifts. Dan was married in his military-dress uniform as he was enlisted in the USAF. Norma wore a white gown that her mother bought her and the veil Dan’s mom bought her. Norma carried a bouquet of yellow roses. Her colors were yellow and white. Harriet, Judy and Mary wore yellow dresses. The other men and the ring bearer wore suits.

Dan and Norma rented a U-haul trailer that was filled with their gifts and all Norma’s stuff and hitched it to their 1957 Plymouth and headed west.

Dan and Norma started their married life in Omaha, Nebraska. Dan had been assigned to the 544th RTG at Hq SAC. Offutt AFB, NE about 3 months earlier. Norma got a secretarial job at Hq SAC in the same building that Dan worked. They had about the same work hours so it made it convenient to ride to work together as well as have lunch together.

They rented a furnished basement apartment in Omaha starting out and later rented an unfurnished apartment nearer the base.

A special memory they have is that they went out to celebrate their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd month’s anniversary at a nightclub in Omaha.

Dan had a military friend who he had gone to tech school with that was assigned to the same organization as Dan, who was from Nebraska originally, and Dan and Norma got to meet his family. It made Dan and Norma feel at home when visiting this family. Dan and Norma were invited to their home for holidays, etc. This family had nine children. The oldest son was Dan’s friend and the rest of the children were all girls. By the way, they lived on a large farm and raised all their own meat, grain, and vegetables. Everything the family ate was from their own land.

Their son, Dan (Danny) Jr was born the following Easter morning, April 2, 1961. Dan, Norma and Danny drove back to St. Paris to celebrate their first anniversary where they were married. Also, they had Danny baptized that first Sunday in June, along with Harriet’s daughter, Alisa who was 8 months old. The grandparents and great-grandparents got to see Danny for the first time as well as other family members and friends.

Dan and Norma planned a vacation each year around their anniversary to celebrate it with family and friends. After Dan finished his tour in the Air Force, they traveled back to Ohio and settled in Springfield. Dan got a job at International Harvester and Norma went back to Wright-Patterson where she had worked 4 years prior to their marriage.

In 1965, they had a home built in Park Layne Manor, New Carlisle. On November 10, 1964 their son, Jeffrey (Jeff) Alan was born at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Norma took a break in service to become a full-fledged mother and wife. After about a year, she went back to work for the government at W-PAFB and continued her career until she retired in January 1994. She had 37 years of government service.

In 1974 Dan and Norma and the family decided they needed a larger home so they had a home built in Forest Ridge, where they still reside after 36 years. Dan left International Harvester and started working at the Foreign Technology Division at WPAFB, where Norma worked. It was very convenient for them to be working in the same organization on base. He and Norma retired together in 1994.

On Dan and Norma’s 15th wedding anniversary Norma thought they were going to take a riverboat ride (like the Delta Queen) down the Ohio River for a day but Dan made other arrangements.

It’s a real long story but here goes:
Remember Norma thinks they are going for just one day and they have a VW car that can hold very little stuff. They get up early that morning (June 5th, 1975) when the phone rings and it’s Dan’s boss telling him to come into work right away. Norma has her hair up in curlers and Dan says I have to hurry let’s go now and just leave the curlers in your hair. Norma wouldn’t dare leave the house before taking the curlers out of her hair. Dan told Norma that he wanted her to drive him to work and then come back and get him later. They got to the entrance gate at the Base and Dan said he wanted to have breakfast first. Norma couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Dan said he wanted breakfast first then go to work.

So Norma was looking for a restaurant as they were driving through Fairborn and Dan said that he didn’t like any of those restaurants so he wanted to go on to Springfield and have breakfast there. So Norma kept driving and driving and wondering what did Dan have up his sleeve. They do not stop in Springfield and just kept driving until they got to Columbus and Dan instructed her to go north onto I-71. Norma is continually driving when Dan wanted to stop at a rest area to take a break. Dan called home to tell Danny and Jeff where they were and what had taken place so far. Norma was unaware that the sons were both in on Dan’s surprise for her that day.

Norma keeps driving and then they are on the outskirts of Cleveland. Dan says let’s stop here for lunch. So they did and while there Dan wants Norma to buy a new dress. Norma takes him up on it and they are on the road again going east. Norma tells Dan that his boss is going to fire him and she kept questioning him “where are we going?” He says we are going to see Aunt Eleanor in Pennsylvania. Norma is still driving and asks Dan if he knows what road to take to her house. All of a sudden Norma sees a sign that says Buffalo ahead and she is getting very suspicious. She says to Dan, “Are you taking me to Niagara Falls?” He does not respond to her question.

Well, as things turned out they end up in front of the falls on the Canadian side. Dan has to make a phone call right away. He doesn’t tell Norma why he has to call. They drive a little farther and Dan says to stop here at this hotel across from the falls. Norma says to Dan, “You can’t just walk in and get a room”. He tells her not to worry about it. Dan and Norma walk up to the desk clerk and Dan tells him “We’re Mr. and Mrs. Hopper”. The clerk says, “Oh, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Hopper. Please come this way. The clerk hands Norma a large basket filled with over 80 envelopes. Norma started to tear up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing and seeing. They were taken to a special room where they could see the lighted falls at night! Norma sat down opening all the beautiful anniversary cards that neighbors, co-workers, church friends, relatives and other close friends had sent them. What an event to remember!

Dan and their sons had taken clothing from Norma’s dresser drawers little by little and that they were able to pack enough clothes for her stay for a few days. Norma and Dan stayed about three days and got to take a ride on the “Maid of the Mist” boat near the falls. Also, got to eat in a restaurant that was in a large circular tower overlooking the falls. The next day Dan and Norma got to take their first helicopter ride. It lasted about 15 minutes. The helicopter was like a clear-type bubble that you could look down in it and see the falls below. Dan was overwhelmed to see how much Norma enjoyed looking down and looking at the scenery below.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get to visit Dan’s aunt until the following year when the whole family got to visit Philadelphia in 1976 (the bi-centennial year). This trip to Niagara Falls was a very memorable one for them both and could never be repeated!

On their 25th wedding anniversary (June 5th, 1985) their sons, Danny, Jeff and Danny’s girlfriend, Becky gave a surprise party at their home in Forest Ridge. Dan and Norma had gone to Columbus to celebrate their anniversary and then came home Sunday afternoon. When they pulled into the drive, there must have been 20 or more cars parked in front of their home and up to the next corner. When they went inside there was a house full of people. The children had hired a magician to do tricks and entertain; there was lots of food and drink as well as a large 3-tiered cake for the two of them to cut. There were many photos taken at the party. Dan and Norma have had a lot of wonderful family and friends to celebrate this and many other special events through the years with them. They know that this June will be a memorable time for them when they celebrate their 50th anniversary. On the first Sunday in June (June 6th, 2010) they will enjoy a celebration after church. The following Saturday, June 12th, 2010 they will celebrate it with neighbors and friends at their home. The next Saturday, June 19th, 2010 they will celebrate it in Frankfort, KY with the Hopper side of the family, and on Saturday, June 26th, 2010 they will celebrate it with Norma’s side of the family at the Smart reunion in Greenville.

Since retirement they continue to keep themselves very occupied. Dan and Norma are volunteers for an organization called “National Association for Members of Campground Resorts, Condominiums and Timeshares”. They were Rvers for several years up until this past year when health reasons became a great concern. They found out how some campground membership clubs can mislead people to join their organization and later members are threatened to continue paying dues when they are no longer able to use the campgrounds. Dan puts out a quarterly newsletter to keep campers abreast of what seems to be taking place with certain campground membership clubs, etc.

Dan has several websites on the internet that helps people get information about what they can do to help themselves. Also he gets calls at home from folks who have problems. Dan and Norma just recently got back from a trip to Mississippi where they checked into what was happening to a campground where a lot of complaints were coming from. Hopefully, their work with the campground owners will make a positive difference. Also, they had a meeting with the Consumer Protection folks at the state capital to inform them of the problems that exist in their state. They seemed very concerned and wanted to help us. While in Mississippi they got to visit special camper friends who they had not seen for a few years.

Norma and a co-worker started a ladies co-workers lunch group. She has been able to contact so many ladies that she worked with over 16 years ago, that they meet every other month now and renew old friendships.

Norma will always remember when they first moved to Forest Ridge and were wanting to find a new church. She had visited several in the area but never felt at home in them until she stepped inside Bath Church and Edith Nolen greeted her with open arms. Edith definitely showed what hospitality really was like! It was very heartwarming to her to know someone noticed her and welcomed her back. From that time on Norma has been an active member of the church. She served as an Elder when she first joined; active choir member; active member of the Women’s Gathering; was on the church team who went to New Orleans for Habitat for Humanity; last but not least, loves to take photos at church.

Norma and Dan’s two sons both live in Florida. When they went Rving they could visit each and stay at a nearby campground. Dan, Jr. lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Becky and their three children. Emily Catherine is 22; Olivia Mae is 20; and Andrew William is 16-1/2. The two granddaughters are in college. Jeff lives in Melbourne with wife, Stephanie. Jeff has a stepdaughter, Charlene Megan. She is 26. She is a registered nurse. She married Mike Wooten a year ago.

Dan and Norma have taken many wonderful trips to Florida but the most impressive trip was one that they took together overseas. Dan had a business trip overseas and Norma accompanied him to Tokyo, Japan and Manila in The Philippines; Seoul, South Korea; and Honolulu, Hawaii in Oct. 1983.

This was Norma’s first airplane ride and she loved every minute of it! One desire Norma always had was to learn to fly a plane. Maybe someday she says. A phrase Edith Nolen has repeated many times to Norma, “if you don’t learn something new every day, you have missed out on that day!” As the phrase goes “you’re never too old to learn”!

Marriage is a union that can last forever if both husband and wife work at it. Those vows stated “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part” and trusting that faith in God can make an event like this take place!