4 days ago
‘A quiet leader.' Miami Air Force veteran who inspired others dies at 92
Leonard Hopkins and his fellow Black military veterans were regulars at a Miami McDonald's every morning except Christmas. They laughed, traded war stories and discussed current events over cups of coffee and orange juice.
One of Hopkins' sons said that even though he was a 'quiet leader,' his presence spoke volumes.
'He would say, when you walk in the room, people want to know who you are,' said son Stephen Hopkins, 65. 'When you leave the room they will want to know who you were.'
Leonard Hopkins, 92, died of prostate cancer on Sunday, July 13 at Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The Brownsville resident was born at his family's Coconut Grove home on June 17, 1933. His father built the home in which Leonard and his nine siblings grew up. From a young age, Leonard used to go to his Bahamian grandfather's bicycle shop on Charles Avenue.
'He had a thing about mechanics since he was very little,' said Donald Hopkins, 83., one of Leonard's brothers. With a passion for mechanics, Leonard Hopkins went to Lindsey Hopkins Technical School days after he graduated from high school to study aviation. Because of racism, however, Hopkins was turned away and instead joined the U.S. Air Force.
That decision ended up changing his life.
Hopkins served in the Korean War aboard a B-36 airplane that he said had enough fuel to travel around the world in a single trip. The racism Leonard experienced in the United States only made him want to excel more in the Air Force.
'Miami was segregated and there was discrimination when [we] grew up,' Donald Hopkins said. 'It was irritating, but it was also motivating. That was strong motivation for a lot of Black folks in the days when U.S. society was even more discriminatory than now.'
Donald Hopkins remembers the day about 10 years ago when he and Lelo — his nickname for his brother — talked about the nuts and bolts of the airplane.
'I just remember hearing from time to time, 'That was the plane I flew when I was in the Air Force,' ' he said. 'I was in my mid-70s then. I was just learning this because he had never talked about it before. I then arranged and shipped to him a model of the B-36.'
After Donald sent Leonard the model airplane, Leonard Hopkins visited the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Hopkins knew the B-36 on display so well that he corrected a tour guide and ended up telling other visitors about the plane.
When he finished his Air Force service, Hopkins returned to Miami and worked as a mechanic at Greyhound for more than 30 years. Hopkins never seemed to complain about anything. But as a military veteran, one subject made him unhappy.
'One of my sisters said to me that I don't recall seeing Lelo complain about anything other than the political situation in the U.S. right now,' Donald Hopkins said.
Leonard Hopkins' passion for airplanes came only second to his passion for family life. If he wasn't at work or with his family, he was nearby at a friend's house. When dinner was ready, Stephen would go down the street to let his dad know.
'That's the thing that stands out with me as a father and a husband,' Stephen Hopkins said. 'If I'm not at work, I'm at home every night. The furthest he would be was at a best friend's house three houses down. They would sit around and talk about different things like war stories. He was truly a family man.'
Leonard Hopkins is survived by three sons and their wives, 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Range Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Funeral services will be July 23 at the South Florida National Cemetery in western Lake Worth in Palm Beach County.
