Charles Henry "Charlie" Hopkins

Charles Henry “Charlie” Hopkins, of Kosse, known to everyone as “The Lawn Mower Man”, passed away at his home on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at age 77.

There will be visitation at the Common Ground Cowboy Church at Kosse, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, prior to the funeral services.

Funeral services at the Common Ground Cowboy Church at Kosse will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 13th, with Pastor Lynn Kemp officiating.   Burial will follow in the Kosse City Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Mike Watson, Walter Lloyd, and the family.

Charles was born April 11, 1946, to James Eugene Hopkins and Moderie (Baker) Hopkins at Midway (Madison County), Texas, where he grew up, one of thirteen children in the family.  His Dad was a full-blood Cherokee and his mother was half Cherokee and half Black Foot Indian, with the family being direct descendents of Geronimo. 

After Charles moved to Midway as a young man, he met Joyce Addie Robinson at her family’s café in Midway, and they were united in marriage three months later, on December 23, 1970.   They had been married for 48 years when she passed away in 2019.

Charles and Joyce lived in Guyman, Oklahoma in the Oklahoma Panhandle area most of their lives, and he worked for a meat processing plant there for 14 years until it closed.  They moved to Midway, where he worked for the 7J Ranch outside Midway, for Crockett Sand and Gravel, and several other jobs.  They moved to Kosse, and he worked at Lost Prairie on a ranch and then for Frost Crushed Stone near Kosse for the next 12 years, before retiring.

Charles enjoyed hunting and fishing when he had the opportunity with his brother and sons.    He mowed for the public and repaired lawn mowers, and could often be seen riding on his mower around Kosse, and thus his title of “The Lawn Mower Man.”

Charles was a member of the First Baptist Church of Kosse.  He gave credit to Joyce for helping him stop drinking and smoking early in their marriage, and he followed his children in becoming a Christian, giving all praise to his wife Joyce for her encouragement.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Joyce in 2019; and 5 of his siblings:  Pearl Paige Bowling, Dixie Kelly, Melba Irene Betherd, Eva Dell Grote, and James Earl Hopkins; and a daughter-in-law, Beverly Hopkins.

He is survived by his 3 children and their spouses: Raymond E. and Leia Hopkins of Kosse, Jimmie L. Hopkins and Christina Neely Hopkins of Belton, and Renee M. and James Kilgore of Temple.  The grandchildren are: Tabitha M. Kilgore of Temple, Kyle J. Kilgore of Temple, William and wife Kat Jones of Marlin, Tyler Jones of Kosse and Madison Neely of Belton; and three great grandchildren, Selena Jones, Caleb Jones and Carson Jones.  

Surviving also are 7 of his siblings: Marie and Jimmy Driver of Midway, William Eugene “Willie Gene” Hopkins of Madisonville, John Wayne and wife Kathy Hopkins of Bedias, Harold Dean and wife Katherine Hopkins of Jewett, Mary Ann Mash of Deer Park, Barbara Rudy of Waco, and Sarah and husband Woodrow Donahoe of Midway, and many nieces and nephews.  His sisters-in-law and brother-in-law are Alma Robinson of Kosse, Nancy and Dan Shepherd of Del City, OK. and Raymond Robinson, Jr. of Del City, OK.