Necrology

Henry “Hank” Lee Kopple '53

Jan. 28, 1932-Jul. 8, 2025

Henry “Hank” Lee Kopple ’53 died on Aug. 28, 2023, at his home in Lahmansville, W.Va. Born on Jan. 28, 1932, in Philadelphia, he grew up there and came to Hamilton from Overbrook High School. On the Hill, he was a member of the Squires Club and majored in English literature and philosophy. He played intramural basketball for Squires, and, starting as a sophomore, was a member of the Debate Club for three years and the International Relations Club for two. He joined the Economics Club in his second year and remained a member until graduation. Hank graduated with honors in philosophy and also received the Babcock Prize in Philosophy and Pedagogy, awarded to a graduating senior who excelled “in philosophy, and particularly in the science of pedagogy.” 

From Hamilton, he returned to Philadelphia where he joined his father’s accounting firm, Kopple & Gottlieb, and became a Certified Public Accountant. While traveling in Europe in 1954, Hank contracted a virus that left him partially and temporarily paralyzed. Returning to Philadelphia, he was admitted to Jefferson Hospital where he got to know Anne Snell, one of his attending nurses and a native of West Virginia. He found her accent intriguing and they hit it off. Two years later they were married. They had three daughters and one son.

In 1960, Hank decided to change course and began what would become a 25-year career in public education in Philadelphia, work he found both challenging and rewarding. Early on, he earned a Master of Education from Temple University. By the late 1960s, he learned of a new Title 1 initiative: affective education. This approach to learning focuses on developing students' emotional intelligence, social skills, and attitudes, and emphasizing the key role emotions play in learning and overall well-being.

By 1970, Hank had left the classroom to become what was later described as a “founding father” of affective education. He educated teachers in the Philadelphia area in the new pedagogies, developed new curricula to realize the program’s goals, and became a mentor and supervisor. Concurrently, Anne was involved in early childhood education, including directing the Trinity Cooperative Day Nursery in Swarthmore, Pa., where they resided.

In 1985, Hank took a sabbatical and, with Anne, spent time in Dorcas, W.Va., where her father was a cattle farmer. As a result of their time there, they decided to leave public education and relocate to the farm, 500 acres of which had come to Anne when her father died. Their son Mark had taken over the farming operation in 1984, and both Anne and Hank helped out. 

Though the decision to move to West Virginia was characterized as “retirement,” Hank and Anne embraced the full-time task of farming. For almost 30 years, the couple helped Mark as he raised Black Angus cattle. Additionally, beginning in 1991, they began growing grapes for local wineries, and later attempted to grow American chestnut trees, an effort that proved futile since the blight that had obliterated the species beginning early in the 20th century was still active. 

Hank also set up shop as an accountant and tax preparer for his neighbors and maintained this operation until 2022, when he was 90 years old. For many years, he taught accounting as an adjunct professor at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University).

His dedication to community service was also reflected in his tenure as a board member from 1990 to 2015, and also as treasurer from 2000 to 2015, for the Cacapon Institute, an organization devoted to protecting various watersheds in Eastern West Virginia, all tributaries of the Potomac River. He took particular interest in the institute’s educational outreach to children. He and Anne were also founding members of both the Grant County Summer Arts Program and the Grant County Farmers Market, and were active in the Lahmansville Ruritan Club as well as the Grant County Democratic Party.

In his 50th reunion yearbook, Hank recalled “some truly fine teachers and great courses. Dean Tolles. All those public-speaking courses.” Also, the Squires intramural basketball team and its triumph over heavily favored Alpha Delta Phi on one occasion. “My horizons were broadened, and all those public speaking courses have helped me throughout my time in the classroom and in the community hall.”

Predeceased by his wife, Henry L. Kopple is survived by three daughters, his son, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

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