Nannie Lamar Smith Hopper

Nannie Lamar Smith Hopper, age 92, went to be with her Lord and Savior on February 19, 2017.  She was born October 7, 1924, in Jefferson City, TN, to Frank and Mollie Nichols Smith.  Nannie was the fourth of their eight children. After graduating from Nelson Merry High School in Jefferson City, she attended Morristown College for a short time.  She moved to Dayton, OH, to work at Wright-Patterson Air Field to be near her siblings. She returned to Jefferson City and married her high school sweetheart, William Julian Hopper Jr. of Oliver Springs.  The couple spent all of their married life in Roane County. From that marriage, they had five children: Gail, Julia, Lou, Jean, and Julian. 

Mrs. Hopper was a business woman who helped her husband Julian, run a family farm for over forty years and she continued to help her son, Julian to do the same.  Mrs. Hopper was a Christian woman who loved God and was a member of the Little Leaf Baptist Church, Oliver Springs Historical Society and Mayme Carmichael School Organization, Inc.  

Mrs. Hopper spent over 70 years in Roane County with her family.  She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and a special friend to many. She was honored as a Roane County, TN Treasure and was well known as “the corn lady”.  She was dedicated to all of her family.  Over the years, she helped not only raise her children, but she took in other children and opened her doors to help feed other children.  Mrs. Hopper helped with the Christmas Basket and the Angel Tree programs within her church.  Mrs. Hopper always helped to provide food in the neighborhood when members had lost their love ones.  She always opened her doors to quilting clubs, Historical Society meetings, and any groups needing help or a place to meet.   

She was preceded in death by her husband, William Julian Hopper, Jr., daughter Abigail (Gail) Hopper Brown, and siblings Mac, Gladys, Bill, Mary Frances, Mattie, and Frank Edward.  She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Julian and Sherri Hopper, Oliver Springs; daughters and son-in-laws, Julia and Julian Daniel, Oliver Springs; Lou Evans, Oak Ridge; Jean Hopper King, Atlanta, GA; and Emmitt Brown, Oliver Springs; sister, Marlene Eskridge, Dayton, OH; over 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

The funeral service is at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at Little Leaf Baptist Church, 228 E Tri County Blvd., Oliver Springs, TN, with Rev. Cecil Mills officiating and giving the eulogy.  The family will receive friends at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday at Little Leaf Baptist Church.

Online condolences can be made at jacksonfuneralservices.com.

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