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Roll Call Tribute
Vergil Hopping '11 May 7, 2013 1:29 PM
From prorodeo.com
PRCA pickup man Hopping dies of apparent heart attack
May 3, 2013
PRCA pickup man Coke Hopping suffered an apparent heart attack while working in the arena at the Helotes (Texas) Festival Association Rodeo on May 2 and died later that evening at a San Antonio hospital. He was 55.
Hopping was coming to the assistance of the fourth bareback rider of the rodeo’s opening night when he suddenly leaned to one side and fell off his horse.
Paramedics rushed to assist him in the arena, performing CPR, using a heart defibrillator and administering epinephrine to get him breathing again, but the damage was too great and he died after being transported 11 miles to University Hospital in San Antonio.
A graduate of Texas Tech University and the Texas Christian Ranch Management program, Hopping was due to complete his PhD May 6 at Texas A&M.
He had been working with several PRCA staff members on his research on bareback riders for that degree; he had been a bareback rider himself in his days as a rodeo competitor.
Hopping was a ranch manager for the EnCana Oil and Gas Company, in Franklin, Texas.
He is survived by his wife, Edie; daughter, Dancey Creel; and two sons, current PRCA bullfighter Clint and former PRCA member Tate.
A slide show tribute has been posted on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5QiVjgjHo)
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Published in The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on May 7, 2013
[Vergil] Coke Hopping
Coke Hopping LUBBOCK- Coke Hopping went to heaven on Thursday, May 2, 2013. We will gather for fellowship and remembrance from 6 to 8 p.m. today, May 7, 2013, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers. A service to celebrate his life of 55 years is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at First Baptist Church, 2201 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas 79401. A tribute of Coke may be found at www.memorialdesigners.net, where you may share stories of Coke that will be used by his family as they finish the book he began. Gus and Pop said, It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's living. I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live. He loved his Savior, Jesus Christ. He lived life large, always honoring his cowboy heritage, always working to keep the west alive. Coke left this world with his feet in the stirrups doing exactly what he loved. Vergil Coke Hopping was born April 6, 1958 to Eva Jane and Clifford Coke Hopping. Survivors include the love of his life, Edie Hopping; his daughter, Dancey Creel and her husband, Chet; his sons, Clint Hopping and Tate Hopping; his granddaughter, True Creel; his parents, Clifford and Eva Hopping; his sister-in-law, Laura Williams and her husband, Gary; his nephew, Ryan Hopping, his wife, Ariel, and their daughters, Alyvia and Audrey; as well as many extended family and friends who loved him dearly. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contribution be sent to the Brandon Bailey Memorial Scholarship at PO Box 203, Newcastle, TX 76372 or to The Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, 101 Pro Rodeo Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.
PRCA pickup man Hopping dies of apparent heart attack
May 3, 2013
PRCA pickup man Coke Hopping suffered an apparent heart attack while working in the arena at the Helotes (Texas) Festival Association Rodeo on May 2 and died later that evening at a San Antonio hospital. He was 55.
Hopping was coming to the assistance of the fourth bareback rider of the rodeo’s opening night when he suddenly leaned to one side and fell off his horse.
Paramedics rushed to assist him in the arena, performing CPR, using a heart defibrillator and administering epinephrine to get him breathing again, but the damage was too great and he died after being transported 11 miles to University Hospital in San Antonio.
A graduate of Texas Tech University and the Texas Christian Ranch Management program, Hopping was due to complete his PhD May 6 at Texas A&M.
He had been working with several PRCA staff members on his research on bareback riders for that degree; he had been a bareback rider himself in his days as a rodeo competitor.
Hopping was a ranch manager for the EnCana Oil and Gas Company, in Franklin, Texas.
He is survived by his wife, Edie; daughter, Dancey Creel; and two sons, current PRCA bullfighter Clint and former PRCA member Tate.
A slide show tribute has been posted on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5QiVjgjHo)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Published in The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on May 7, 2013
[Vergil] Coke Hopping
Coke Hopping LUBBOCK- Coke Hopping went to heaven on Thursday, May 2, 2013. We will gather for fellowship and remembrance from 6 to 8 p.m. today, May 7, 2013, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers. A service to celebrate his life of 55 years is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at First Baptist Church, 2201 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas 79401. A tribute of Coke may be found at www.memorialdesigners.net, where you may share stories of Coke that will be used by his family as they finish the book he began. Gus and Pop said, It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's living. I doubt it matters where you die, but it matters where you live. He loved his Savior, Jesus Christ. He lived life large, always honoring his cowboy heritage, always working to keep the west alive. Coke left this world with his feet in the stirrups doing exactly what he loved. Vergil Coke Hopping was born April 6, 1958 to Eva Jane and Clifford Coke Hopping. Survivors include the love of his life, Edie Hopping; his daughter, Dancey Creel and her husband, Chet; his sons, Clint Hopping and Tate Hopping; his granddaughter, True Creel; his parents, Clifford and Eva Hopping; his sister-in-law, Laura Williams and her husband, Gary; his nephew, Ryan Hopping, his wife, Ariel, and their daughters, Alyvia and Audrey; as well as many extended family and friends who loved him dearly. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contribution be sent to the Brandon Bailey Memorial Scholarship at PO Box 203, Newcastle, TX 76372 or to The Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, 101 Pro Rodeo Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80919.
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