Deceased June 3, 2015
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In Memory
Marty Hopkins died June 3 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Marty entered Amherst with the class of 1955 but left to serve in the U.S. Army in Korea, returning to graduate as a cum laude philosophy major with our class. He always identified with the class of 1957, returning regularly to reunions to add his garrulous conversation to the festivities.
Marty’s daughter Ellen wrote of him: He was a wonderful man—generous, kind and brilliant. An IBM Fellow, he was one of the original inventors of the first RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer); when he first learned to program computers, they filled an entire room. He loved poetry, philosophy, his children, his grandchildren and most of all Camille, his wife of 59 years. He died a very Victorian novel-ish kind of death—at home, surrounded by family, lucid enough to say goodbye to each of us, occasionally finishing lines of the poetry and songs we recited and sang. He was the most curious and optimistic person I’ve ever known.
Marty leaves Camille to preside over a large family, including three daughters and a son, two sons-in-law and eight grandchildren.
Bob Shoenberg ’57
Ellen Hopkins