 HOPPMAN, LYDIA WEBSTER A resident of Rio Rancho, died peacefully at home on September 29, 2014 after a brief battle with breast cancer. She celebrated her 56th birthday a week earlier on September 22. A mother of eight, she home schooled all of her children. The four older had graduated and she had home schooled her four younger children until her illness was diagnosed in May. She was born in Boston, MA, the daughter of John Curran of Rio Rancho and the late Barbara Curran. She grew up in Ipswich, MA and attended Ipswich High School. She later graduated from Essex Agricultural High School where she became a skilled gardener and later a passionate advocate for organic gardening and alternative medicine. In her youth she was a member of 4-H and competed in a variety of horse competitions, first with a pony and later a half Arab gelding. She moved to Albuquerque with her family in 1979. A year later, she briefly pursued in a career in modeling and acting with her sister, Maellen in Los Angeles where she was chosen for bit roles in the television series Little House on the Prairie as well as in several movies. Upon returning to Albuquerque she attended the University of Albuquerque where she met her husband Robert who was an undergraduate before studying to become an x-ray technologist. A devout Christian, she frequently sang in church as a soloist and with her husband accompanying her on the guitar, even after her hearing was severely impacted by surgery for a benign brain tumor. When they were married in 1989 in Calvary Albuquerque, she surprised her husband and the congregation by singing a special song for him. In 1995, her husband was hired by the community hospital in Keene, NH where they lived for more than five years. She and her family returned to the Albuquerque area in 2000 when her husband was hired by St. Joseph's Hospital. He now works as a director of the Radiation Oncology Gamma Knife department of Lovelace Health Systems following its takeover. Besides her husband, Lydia is survived by eight children, Joshua, Kelsey, Jeremiah, Jonathan, twins Micah and Mykaela, Josiah and Keturah; father, John Curran and wife Nora of Rio Rancho; brother, Ben and wife Lori and children, Carlene, Shane, Clarisa and Hope Ann of Elkton, KY; brother, Jonathan and wife Martha; nieces, Mandie Walston and husband Steve and Heather Ryno, husband Caleb and their son, Lydia's great-nephew, Eli Jonathan; sister, Maellen Blodgett and husband Monty and children, Silas, Nicholas, Daniel and Emily, all of Albuquerque; aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. John Perron of Ipswich, MA; uncle Paul Chown of London, England; mother-in-law, Marilyn Hoppman of Peoria, AZ; sister-in-law, Trish and husband Robert Albright of Scottsdale, AZ and nieces Sheyla Herrera of Albuquerque and Breanna and husband Eric Hale of Dallas, TX; sister-in-law, Karol Como, husband Scott and nephew Jacob of Scottsdale, AZ; and sister-in-law, Cindy and husband Dave Benefield of Albuquerque. A Memorial Service will be held Friday, October 3, 2014, 10:00 a.m., at Grace Church, 6901 San Antonio Dr. NE, Albuquerque with Pastor/Elder Dave Holets officiating. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Hoppman Family Educational Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank, Account #7093906977. FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400
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