In 1971, Mike Hopson was part of a Titan football team that helped bring a racially divided Alexandria together. Since then, his life has been dedicated to his family, his friends and to serving the city that he loved.

Hopson died suddenly last week and the many people whose lives he touched dont need Disney to remember this Titan.

Since I have known Mike Hopson, he has been an example of team work and leadership. He has been a role model for kids and adults and has served this community all of his life, said former Titan Coach Herman Boone, who was at the hospital last week when Hopson died.

Hopson was born and grew up in Alexandria. Mayor Bill Euille was a childhood friend. I lived in The Berg and Mike lived across the street at Hopkins Court. Even though he was younger than me, I remember him from Cub Scouts because my mother was a den mother.

Everyone knows that Mike was a member of that 1971 championship Titan football team and he was always willing to come and meet visitors to Alexandria who wanted to talk to one of those players and to hear about how it really was. Many times I have called him to come and talk to people and he has always come, no matter what time it was, and usually brought some piece of memorabilia for the people he was coming to see.

Mike was dedicated to his family and to Alexandria. We are all going to miss him very much, Euille said.

Hopson worked for both the Department of Recreation and for the Alexandria City Public School system. He was hired in 1976 by the Recreation Department and, at the time of his death, was the evening site supervisor at John Adams Recreation Center. Margaret Orlando was one of his supervisors.

I have known Mike for as long as I have worked in the city, she said. He always had a smile on his face and always had time to stop and talk to a child or to an adult who came into the recreation center.  His girls grew up in our recreation programs and he was always around, supporting their activities. We are going to miss him very much.

In addition to his job at the Recreation Department, he worked at T. C. Williams High School as a security monitor. He was so proud of the new building and was thrilled to show me the new gym and the other facilities, said A. Melvin Miller.

Funeral services for Hopson will be held later this week. He is survived by his two daughters who are both students at T. C. Williams and by a large extended family.