Timeline of the Hopper Family in Korea

  • June 1, 1892: Joseph Hopper born in Stanford, Kentucky to George Dunlap Hopper and Katherine Elizabeth Higgens Hopper.1
  • 1914: Joseph Hopper graduates magna cum laude from Centre College.2
  • 1917: Joseph Hopper graduates from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with Bachelor of Divinity.1
  • April 24, 1917: Joseph Hopper licensed to preach by Transylvania Presbytery of the PCUS.1
  • October 9, 1917: Joseph Hopper ordained by West Lexington Presbytery.1
  • December 18, 1919: Joseph Hopper marries Annis Barron of Rock Hill, South Carolina.2
  • February 1920: Joseph and Annis Hopper depart for Korea as PCUS missionaries, assigned to Mokpo.2
  • May 17, 1921: Joseph Barron Hopper born in Kwangju, Korea.3
  • April 1920: Joseph Hopper preaches his first sermon to Korean congregation at Kwangju leper church.2
  • 1928: Joseph Hopper earns ThM from Union Presbyterian Seminary.1
  • 1931: Joseph Hopper teaches at Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pyongyang; Joe B. attends fifth grade at Pyongyang Foreign School.4
  • 1934: Joe B. begins high school at Pyongyang Foreign School.4
  • Summer 1935: Hopper family takes furlough trip around the world via Japan, Singapore, Palestine, and England.5
  • June 7, 1938: Joe B. graduates from Pyongyang Foreign School as valedictorian.4
  • 1939: Joseph Hopper earns ThD from Union Presbyterian Seminary.1
  • 1939: Joe B. received under care as candidate for ministry by Concord Presbytery of the PCUS.3
  • 1940: Pyongyang Foreign School closes; most missionaries evacuate Korea before Pearl Harbor.4
  • 1941-1945: Joseph Hopper serves as stated supply at Emory Church in Decatur, Georgia (1941-1942) and Royal Oak Church in Marion, Virginia (1942-1945) during wartime evacuation.1
  • 1942: Joe B. graduates magna cum laude from Davidson College; member of Phi Beta Kappa.3
  • July 19, 1945: Joe B. Hopper marries Dorothy “Dot” Longenecker at Blackstone Presbyterian Church in Virginia.6
  • August 12, 1945: Joe B. Hopper ordained by Montgomery Presbytery of the PCUS.3
  • 1945: Joe B. graduates from Union Presbyterian Seminary with Bachelor of Divinity.3
  • 1945-1947: Joe B. serves as pastor of Blackwater and Piedmont Presbyterian Churches in Callaway, Virginia.3
  • Summer 1946: Joe B. and Dot commissioned as missionaries to Korea at Montreat Missions Conference.6
  • 1947-1948: Joe B. and Dot attend Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages while awaiting permission to enter Korea.6
  • 1948: Joe B. and Dot arrive in Korea; Joseph and Annis Hopper on dock to greet them.6
  • December 23, 1948: Barron Hopper born in Chonju, delivered by Dr. Paul Crane.6
  • June 25, 1950: Korean War begins; missionaries evacuate from Chonju following midnight phone call to American Embassy.6
  • 1950: Joe B. and Dot evacuate to Japan then Seattle; David Hopper born in Richmond two months after evacuation.6
  • 1950: Joe B. earns ThM from Union Presbyterian Seminary.3
  • September 1951: Joe B. returns alone to Korea to replace Dr. W.A. Linton in Chonju; Dot and children remain in Quitman, Georgia with her parents for 19 months.6
  • Easter 1954: Dot and children reunited with Joe B. in Korea after families permitted to re-enter.6
  • 1954: Margaret Lois Hopper born in Chonju, delivered by Dr. Paul Crane.6
  • 1956: Joseph Hopper retires from Korea after 36 years of missionary service.1
  • 1965: Joe B. receives Doctor of Divinity degree from Davidson College.3
  • February 20, 1971: Joseph Hopper dies.1
  • 1986: Joe B. and Dot retire from Korea after 38 years of missionary service.3
  • April 27, 1992: Joe B. Hopper dies in Montreat, North Carolina.3
  • December 4, 2015: Dorothy Longenecker Hopper dies in Hillsborough, North Carolina.7

  1. Joseph Hopper bio ↩︎

  2. Memoir of Joseph Hopper ↩︎

  3. Joe B. Hopper bio ↩︎

  4. Pyongyang Years ↩︎

  5. A Trip Around the World in 1935 ↩︎

  6. Dorothy Longenecker Hopper, 1920-2015 ↩︎

  7. Dorothy Longenecker Hopper bio ↩︎