at the airport. on the way home. to the home that will continue for only a few more weeks, into the beginning of the mountain winter, snow coming, slower than it falls, but still coming down the slopes of the peaks, above tree-line. a long and intensive week here. now back to teaching. with a disrupted schedule. momentum a real factor.

Dad passes this evening. after this long struggle, and a long life. code blue, Janet calls, racing into the hospital. Nancy and Mom there, holding his hands. his heart couldn't bear more time here. I am just home from school, exhausted. stop what I am doing, and concentrate on a slender thread of consciousness. Light some incense. crumble some sage harvested for just this purpose from the depths of Sand Canyon off the Yampa, press it deep into the palms, smelling the released sweetness. burn some, the smoke mixing with the incense. an intuitive impulse says "write the time now." on a 3x5 card, I write the time, 6:52. a call comes ten minutes later, he has passed. as birth is the surfacing, death is the submerging of soul back into its own, its transitory place. time shivers, small waves move outward, and the bardo of passing opens. unmeasure intuition and connection. still small voices, suspension of the material presence.

Cleveland Hopkins was with his family when he went to be with the Lord at 5:52 p.m. PST, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003. Cleveland was born in Santa Rosa, Calif., on Sept. 8, 1910, to Charles Blodgett and Lucia (Cleveland) Hopkins. He was married to Lillian Christine Hopkins MacKenzie on Aug. 11, 1945, at Park Street Church in Boston, Mass. They enjoyed 58 years together.

He was an active member and trustee at Park Street Church as well as at the Derwood Alliance Church in Derwood, Md. When retirement brought he and Lillian to Arizona, he became an Elder at the First Baptist Church in Prescott. Later, he was a charter member of the Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church also in Prescott.

Cleve had many hobbies including his computer, photography, woodworking, ham radio, geology, camping, and hiking. Amateur astronomy was his favorite. During retirement, he constructed a 14-inch reflector telescope with its own observatory at his home in Prescott.

He attended Redlands University in Redlands, Calif., and completed as BS in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1933. When World War II broke out, he was recruited for classified research at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, he and several other scientists developed pulse radar technology, which is still used to guide landing aircraft.

In 1951, he took a position at the Pentagon in the office for Operations Analysis with the Air Force. At that time, he developed plans for airborne early warning systems to protect the U.S. from the threat of Soviet attack. With his knowledge of radar and operations analysis technologies, he was quickly promoted to the lead of the Operations Analysis office of the Alaskan Air Command, in charge of strategic planning for the Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar system that was the first line of U.S. air defense.

Cleve continued his career in operations research and analysis with a variety of government agencies, including the National Bureau of Standards (NIST), Office of Technology Assessment, Office of Telecommunications Policy, the FAA, and the Naval Research Laboratory.

In addition, he was a life-member of TIMS/ORSA, a Senior Member of the IEEE and the Society of Professional Engineers, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a registered Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia, and a member of the National Capitol Astronomers Association and the American Scientific Affiliation. He authored or co-authored 57 articles in professional journals.

Cleveland is survived by his wife, Lillian; two daughters, Janet Hopkins of Chino Valley and Nancy Johnson Haan of Livermore, Calif.; and two sons, Douglas of New York City, N.Y, and John of Boulder, Colorado.

Five grandchildren also survive him, Lawren Richards of Vancouver, Canada, Jason Babcock of Phoenix, Arizona, Casey and Dana Johnson of Livermore, California, and Loki Hopkins of Reykjavik, Iceland. Called "Great Father" by his devoted great-grandchildren, he is survived by Alexandria, Trey, and Annabelle Babcock.

A memorial will be held at the First Baptist Church, 148 South Marina Street in Prescott, on Monday, Sept. 22, at 4 p.m., with The Rev. Gary Carman officiating. Interment will be in the Cleveland family plot, Russian River Cemetery, Ukiah, California.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Christian Academy of Prescott, 928-445-2565.

the Art Faculty exhibition at the CU Art Museum. Amy (of Freeth-Rice Photography) comes by -- she was an assistant of Bills at Peters Valley. way back in that historical epoch.