Connie Lee Hopper

My beautiful Mom is dying.

I’m here by her bedside as she is readying herself to journey on. The memories of all of the love she gave flood my mind, my heart, and my eyes.

Memories of her toothpaste commercial smile, childhood presents she couldn’t nearly afford (those white leather Nike shoes with the red swoosh), her making mansions out of quilt scraps.

She had to dance when certain songs came on (think Old Time Rock and Roll). She screamed with joy when her favorite songs were played (think Elvis, the Eagles, Conway Twitty, Ken Hopper). Her cooking was unmatched and could always bring me right back home to best parts of my childhood. Her sewing skills and glamorous fashion sense allowed a poor little girl to design her own clothes and dress better than Nellie Olsen.

Her advice has been indispensable to my life: good friends have good friends; you have two choices, you can be the kind of person people are jealous of, or the kind of person that feels jealous, pick one and don’t complain about the consequences; say your prayers before you go to bed; you only have one set of teeth, take good care of them.

Her beauty, her oozing with kindness smile, her smokey blue eyes, her lustrous jet black hair, dropped every jaw in every room she ever entered.

She was life’s eternal Homecoming Queen.

She had her shoulder tattooed with the St. Louis Cardinals emblem, because she “said she would if they won the series”.

She was one of a kind for certain. This world will be forever less without her in it. My world will be forever less without her in it.

You can go on home now my sweet Momma. You have a host of folks anxiously awaiting your joyous arrival on the other side, waiting to share the strongest of embraces, to sit and visit with a big a slice of your pie and a side (or two) of champagne.

I know one thing for sure, your heavenly dance card is already full.

I love you Mom.

We will celebrate the radiant life of Connie Lee Hopper at the home of her daughter Stacie Calhoun Bilyeu at 841 S Weller, Springfield MO on 2 May 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Her loving and devoted husband Ken Hopper and adoring daughters Kellie Moreland and Stacie Calhoun Bilyeu firmly believe that she would have much preferred a celebration of the joyous life she lived rather than a somber service. It is our intention to have a celebration of her life in the manner in which she lived it. We will drink champagne. We will have her favorite foods. We will have live music (bring an instrument if you are so inclined). We plan to celebrate on the grass, weather permitting. We will celebrate her life and her triumphant journey home Connie-style, with joy, love, laughter, and fun. We will dress the way she loved to dress, shorts and flip flops. All are welcome and we would love to see you there.

Cremation rites will be accorded by Adams Crematory and arrangements are under the  direction of Adams Funeral Home, Ozark.