Joan Hopewell (left) and daughter Tanya hunting with the Old Domionion Hounds / Douglas Lees photo

Joan Hopewell, MFH of the Old Dominion Hounds (VA) from 1976 to 1979, died in Southern Pines, North Carolina on Thursday, June 26, 2014. She was born in England in 1919 and came to the United States in 1950. She was married to John C. Hopewell and lived in Virginia until moving to Southern Pines, North carolina in the late 1980s.

Mrs. Hopewell owned and trained race horses, including the successful Running Comment, winner of the New York Turf Writers Cup, in Saratoga in 1981.

After moving to Southern Pines, Mrs. Hopewell ran the Moore County Point-to-Point with Bubby Compton, and was an active part of the  equestrian life of this thriving horse community. She was a close friend of Ginny Moss, founder of the Walthour-Moss Foundation and MFH of the Moore County Hounds.

Mrs. Hopewell leaves behind two daughters: Diana Clarke, who lives in England, and Tanya Smith, a teacher in Southern Pines. She is grandmother to Kaylor, Derick, Rosy, and Noel.

A graveside service was held on Monday, June 30.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Walthour-Moss Foundation, P.O. Box 1744, Southern Pines, NC 28388.

Posted July 2, 2014

(L-R) Joe Brooks (bowler from Mr. Hubbard’s Kent County Hounds); Joan Hopewell, MFH, Old Dominion Hounds; Emmet Simmons; Hattie (Mrs. James Sinclair); Harcourt Lees, MFH, Warrenton Hunt; John Hopewell, former MFH and husband of Joan Hopewell; Swannie Cunningham / Douglas Lees photo