IN MEMORIAM: Julie Hopper Fiora, 67;

Daughter Of Minas Oil Field Discoverer

COOPERSTOWN – Julie Hopper Fiora, whose father was involved in the discovery of the largest oil field in Southeast Asia, died unexpectedly Monday night, Nov.  30, 2015, at the lakeside summer home of her brother, Dr. William Hopper. She was 67.

Born July 26, 1948, Julie Frances Hopper was the daughter of the late Dr. Richard Hutchinson Hopper, a native of California, and Renèe May Rudd, a Swiss-educated Australian.

She was born in the City of Djakarta on the Island of Java, Republic of Indonesia, during the time her father, who worked over 30 years in the oil industry at Caltex/Chevron, was discovering the Minas oil field.

As a newborn, Julie and her family moved to the Netherlands, and then several years later to the United States, settling in New York City and then Easton, Conn.

While living in New York City, Julie attended The Brearley School on the upper East Side of Manhattan and later the University of Connecticut.

On July 29, 1983, Julie married Robert Vincent Fiora, and they made their home in Ellington, Conn.  After Robert died in 1995, Julie lived in various places throughout the Northeast.

In addition to her brother, she is survived by Dr. Hopper’s wife Lois, and their sons Ian and Justin.

She will be laid to rest near her parents in a private ceremony in Cooperstown.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home.