David Hopton, a consultant general surgeon who was involved in the commissioning of the ‘new’ York Hospital in 1976, passed away peacefully at his home in Nether Poppleton on February 6.
He leaves his wife, former Lord Mayor of York Janet Hopton, three children and nine grandchildren.
A private family funeral was held on February 15, at St. Everilda`s Church, Nether Poppleton.
Mrs Hopton said her husband had been a man of ‘tremendous energy’ who had ‘enjoyed life’.
She said: “He was dedicated to his surgery but always made time for his family.
“He never ceased to be grateful for having the opportunity to settle in York, to bring up his children here, for having such supportive work colleagues and for the many friendships made.
“York was his much-loved home for fifty two years.”
Mr Hopton was born in 1934, in Salford, Manchester. The family moved to the Wirral in Cheshire at the outbreak of the Second World War, returning to Manchester when the war ended.
Mr Hopton went to Sale Grammar School, then Manchester University Medical School in 1952. In 1960, having completed his initial medical studies, he began two years of National Service.
He was attached as medical officer to 2 Parachute Regiment, and spent time in Libya, Cyprus, and Kuwait. He then extended his National Service by two months to go to Malaya as a medical officer to the SAS.
He enjoyed his national service, his wife Janet said. “His army uniform still hangs in the wardrobe and in his seventies he put it on, still a perfect fit.”
National Service over, Mr Hopton began ten years of surgical training, during which he was based in Oxford, Edinburgh, Preston, Manchester, Cardiff, Seattle and Swansea.
In June 1972 – by which time he was married with three children – he was appointed as a consultant general surgeon to the three York hospitals, the County, the City and the Military.
He was involved in the commissioning of the new York hospital in 1976 and, that year, he and two Rowntree executives organised a successful fund-raising appeal for a Mammography Unit for the new hospital. During the last ten years of his working life, Mr Hopton became an examiner at the Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons.
Mr Hopton retired from the NHS in 1996, and from private practice in 1999, but remained busy.
He took up tennis, and bought a boat with a friend, in which they competed in races at the Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club, Bridlington.
In 2006, he served as Mayor’s consort alongside his wife, Lord Mayor Janet Hopton.
His charitable work included being chairman of Alne Hall Cheshire Home, a national Trustee of the Leonard Cheshire Foundation and, following his retirement, Governor and Chairman of Hob Moor Oaks School.
He also served as a York Minster Guide, and as a Trustee of St. Sampson`s Centre in York, Poppleton Tithe Barn and Project Mala.
Mrs Hopton said family members had always known her husband as a warm, supportive man.
But she had been struck and moved by the messages of condolence following his death.
“The words used frequently are how kind, caring, and respected he was,” she said. “His patients and their families have not forgotten.”
