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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXTENDING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF ANDREA MARIE

HOPKINS

     Introduced By: Representatives Craven, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, McEntee, Chippendale,
Kennedy, Fogarty, Serpa, Boylan, and Ackerman

     Date Introduced: January 21, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with sadness that this House has learned of the passing of Andrea Marie

Hopkins, the beloved wife of Mark Hopkins for fifty-six years, and the cherished mother of

Kathryn Hopkins (Fran Morey), and Jennifer Skerrett; and

     WHEREAS, Born in the City of Providence, Mrs. Hopkins was the daughter of Maurice

and Regina Frechette, and the sister of Maurice Shrader-Frechette and his wife, Kristin, Maureen

Maggiacomo and her husband, Ron, Paul Frechette and his wife, Cher, Peter Frechette and David

Warren, and the sister-in-law of James Hopkins. She is also survived by many nieces and

nephews, and their families; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Hopkins was a graduate of Coventry High School and was honored as

a member of the inaugural class of Coventry High School’s Hall of Fame. Continuing her

education, she earned a degree in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island. She had

been employed in Marketing for the A.T. Cross Co. and was the Senior Vice President of

Marketing and Member Services for AAA Southern New England before joining the staff at the

University of Rhode Island, where she retired in 2011 as Assistant Vice President of Public

Affairs; and

     WHEREAS, With a loving personality, Mrs. Hopkins created and nurtured a marriage

that flourished and a home that was warm and welcoming. She was the provider of sumptuous

pies, desserts, pickles, relishes, jams and jellies that were legendary, and when her children, and

nieces and nephews were young, she would bake and decorate birthday cakes of their choosing.

She later doted on her grandchildren, Elizabeth Skerrett, Anna Skerrett, and Ian Morey, lovingly

handmaking them pajamas and their favorite cookies; and

     WHEREAS, Throughout her life, Mrs. Hopkins was devoted to her Alma Mater for

which she had received the URI Ram Award. For more than fifty years, she and her husband were

basketball season ticket holders. She enthusiastically recruited and advocated for URI, both in the

community and lobbying for URI at the Rhode Island State House, where she would often invite

URI students to accompany her. She had also served as an Alumni Admissions Representative, a

trustee of the URI Foundation, a member of the Alumni Association Government Relations

Advisory Committee, and was a charter member of the Women’s Council for Development; and

     WHEREAS, Active in the community, and always generous with her time and expertise,

Mrs. Hopkins served as a Trustee and Incorporator of Centerville Bank, as a Trustee of Kent

Hospital, a member of the Kent Hospital Foundation, Leadership Rhode Island, and the Coventry

Public Library Board of Trustees, and was on Senator Jack Reed’s Women’s Advisory

Committee, and was the former President of both the Coventry Public Library Foundation and the

Anthony Lyceum Library Association. For her dedication, she was honored with the Leadership

Rhode Island David Sweet Leadership Award, and most recently the Kent Hospital Foundation

2024 Philanthropist of the Year Award; and

     WHEREAS, Andrea Hopkins was “a strong powerful woman” who “did nothing by

halves,” was always “a willing and eager mentor to anyone who could benefit from her expertise”

and who possessed a “How Can I Help” attitude. She was rarely one to remain idle, and

relentlessly fought Parkinson’s over the last two decades of her life with a commitment to

physical fitness, treatments, stubbornness, and persistence. Her determination and

accomplishments are inspirational, she enriched the lives of all who knew her, and she is truly

and dearly missed; now, therefore be

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

expresses deepest sympathies on the passing of Andrea Marie Hopkins; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mark Hopkins and Family.

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