Lois Hopper

From Palo Alto Wiki

Lois Hopper was the daughter of Stanford's third president, Ray Lyman Wilbur.

After going through the public schools in Palo Alto, Hopper majored in biology at Stanford University. Soon after graduation, she married Max Hopper.

[edit] Memories

Hopper's various memories were printed during the Palo Alto Centennial in 1994.

"I remember skating up and down El Camino--it must have been around 1914--right after they paved the road. They let us skate on it for a day before they opened it to automobiles. We skated from Menlo Park down to Mayfield. We did a lot of skating in those days. My brothers were always out and about somewhere, but I wasn't allowed to go anywhere myself. But I was fine with that--never really wanted to...

"Down by Embarcadero Road, where the Bayshore Highway is today, was full of all sorts of wildlife: possums, birds, rabbits. My older brother collected birds' eggs. There were quite a few interesting birds there. My brother never took more than one egg out of the nest, though, and he didn't disturb the birds for too long. I wasn't allowed to go with him too often. Brothers don't like their sisters always following them.

"During high school, I had to stay an extra half a year because I got a C in algebra and I needed all B's to get into Stanford. I studied biology and enjoyed that very much. Spent a few summers down at the Hopkins Marine Station. Oh, that was lovely. It was the first time I was away from home!"