The main character in today’s post, as near as I can tell, may have never set foot in Perry County, possibly not even the state of Missouri. However, when you have the surname, Hopfer, the chances of having connections to Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown are pretty high. For some background information that leads up to today’s birthday boy, you can read the post, Martin Hopfer D.D.S. It explains how a dentist had a son in Minden, Nebraska.

Alvin Roscoe Hopfer was born on June 29, 1894, thus making today his 130th birthday. This boy mostly went by the name, Roscoe, during his life. He was the firstborn child of Martin and Mathilde (Richter) Hopfer. When he was born, his father was a dentist in Minden, Nebraska. Because today’s story does not take place locally, I will not be displaying any church records today. Roscoe is found in his first census entry in 1900 at the age of 5. The image below is quite unreadable. It reminds me of the 1900 census pages from the Salem Township.

A much clearer census entry is found in the 1910 census for this Hopfer family. They were still living in MInden. Roscoe was a teenager. His father was still a dentist.

Before I move on with this story, I will display this map of the region of Nebraska in which we find Minden. It should give us context to some other details about the woman that Roscoe would marry.

Prior to the 1920 census, the Hopfer family made a move to the state of Washington. They moved to Omak, Washington, and Roscoe’s father made a career move as well. Roscoe had his World War I draft registration completed in 1917. It gives Omak as his address and calls him a farmer, and his father was his employer.

Martin, the dentist, was then called a fruit farmer when the 1920 census was taken. Roscoe was called a laborer at the age of 25.

Now, we need to take a look at the woman who became Roscoe’s wife. Her name was Ella Fredricka Jordan, who was also a Nebraska native. She was born in Oneida, Nebraska (shown on the above map) on September 5, 1902. Ella was the daughter of Edward and Ottilie “Tillie” (Braun) Jordan. When the 1910 census was taken, we find the Jordan family living in Oneida, and Ella was 7 years old. Her father was a farmer.

Next, we find the Jordan’s in the 1920 census. Ella and another sister were living with their mother in Hastings, Nebraska. Her mother was divorced and workiing as a cook in a cafeteria.

Quite a dramatic move must have taken place shortly after 1920. I will add that I figure there must have been long-distance correspondence going on between Roscoe in Washington and Ella in Nebraska prior to this move and afterwards. Roscoe Hopfer married Ella Jordan on January 1, 1922, and according to a newspaper article that was published in Nebraska, this couple was married in San Diego, California.

After their marriage, another article appeared in that paper that said Roscoe was in the orchard business, and his father had returned to being a dentist in Omak.

Also, shortly after they were married, a photo was taken of Roscoe and Ella Hopfer and Tillie Jordan.

This couple had just one child, a boy named David, who was born in about 1939, so we do not see this couple with children in the 1930 census. According to the above article about their marriage, the Hopfer’s lived in Omak for a while, but by 1930, they had moved to the state of Oregon. Roscoe was a bookkeeper for the Coulter Motor Company.

This photo was taken of the Hopfer’s home in Hood River, Oregon.

A photo was taken of Roscoe when he was fairly young.

Here is another map to show some important locations on the West Coast that apply to this story.

There is evidence that the Hopfer’s were living in Medford, Oregon during the 1930’s. Below is a city directory for Medford that lists Roscoe as a bookkeeper.

I found this photo which was taken in 1938 to be of special interest. The caption I found said it included the Gruber Family. With a bit of looking, I discovered that Ella’s aunt, Anna Braun, had married Theodore Gruber, the son of Rev. Theodore Gruber, who was a pastor near Seward, Nebraska. That means his grandfather was Rev. Carl Gruber, the first pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.

I found this interesting census entry for 1930 in which we find Theodore Gruber living in Orange, California along with Ella’s grandfather, John Braun. Theodore was a fruit packer.

David Hopfer was born around 1939. This photo is dated 1939 and includes their new baby.

When the 1940 census was taken, we find the Hopfer’s living in Perrydale, Oregon. Roscoe is called a treasurer for a credit company. David was just one year old.

Another photo of Roscoe, Ella, and David was taken in 1945.

When we get to the 1950 census, we find the Hopfer’s once again living in Perrydale where Roscoe is called the bookkeeper for a fruit packer.

A city directory for Medford, Oregon for 1960 indicates that the Hopfer’s had moved back to that city. Roscoe was still a bookkeeper for a fruit company.

Below is a photo of the Hopfer home in Medford.

Roscoe must have also had the hobby of working with model trains. Here is a photo of Roscoe displaying his interest in them.

Ella Hopfer died in 1969 at the age of 67; Roscoe Hopfer died in 1986 at the age of 91. They are buried together in the Memory Gardens Memorial Park in Medford, Oregon.

I found this story to be quite interesting. For one thing, someone on Ancestry.com has provided plenty of photos for this family. I did not even include half of them. I found it also fascinating that this couple with roots in the cornfields of Nebraska would end up associated with the orchard business on the West Coast. The Gruber connection also provided another little tidbit of a Perry County connection.