From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Nov. 21, 1988:

• Friends and colleagues of Douglas County Commission Chairman David Hopper were saddened to learn of his death this morning after a long fight with cancer. Hopper, 67, a Eudora Democrat, had passed away at 7 a.m. at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Those who had worked with Hopper spoke of their admiration for the resilience and strength he had displayed during his illness. Hopper had been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer late in the spring, but he had been adamant about continuing his work on the commission until about a week before his death. “It was really such a great deal of courage for a man that confronted an illness so honestly and openly,” said fellow Commissioner Nancy Hiebert. “He did so much outside the county courthouse that nobody saw. He did them all in a very quiet way.” “I’ve lost a friend and a co-worker,” said Commissioner Warren Rhodes. “Even though we didn’t always agree on everything, we came out ready to work together.” Hopper’s daughter Carol Brown said that her father had placed a high value on the years spent on the commission. “Dad felt that some of the best four years were spent on the board and he made friends there that he and Mom still really treasure,” Brown said.
• Sunday’s New York Times Magazine this week carried a picture of a work by Lawrence artist Stan Herd. The magazine’s next-to-last page, which always featured a photograph of a notable “work in progress” somewhere in the world, showed Herd’s “large field piece” portrait of Saginaw Grant. Herd had created the image in a wheatfield near Oskaloosa.