Obituaries : Jill g. Lockard-Bopp

Jill g. Lockard-Bopp

Jill g. Lockard-Bopp passed away in the early morning on February 16, 2015 after a long illness. Memorial Services will be held at 10:30 AM, Thursday, February 19, 2015 at Wesley United Methodist Church in Vinton with Rev. Dr. Judith Bunyi officiating. Phillips Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Jill was born August 14, 1955 at Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton to Homer and Maxine Kaiser Lockard. She went to grade school in Garrison and graduated high school at Vinton Community Schools.

Jill has always had a flair for drama, and it’s no surprise she holds a degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Northern Iowa. She moved to Denver, CO to seek her fame and fortune, but fortune smiled on Vinton when she returned to the area in the mid-80s. Jill has been very active in ACT I Community Theatre in Vinton as actor, director, costumer, lighting designer, and set designer. She has performed as a singer for many local events and ceremonies.

In 1988 she married Anthony Joseph Bopp, whom she met in one of ACT I’s productions a few years earlier. They have no children but have raised two dogs and two cats during their marriage.

She was the choir director at Wesley United Methodist Church, where she was a lifelong member, for several years.

Jill was loved and treasured by her friends and family, whom she often thought of through cards and phone calls to help them through difficult times. Though she herself had many difficulties, she never stopped focusing on what she could give to others, rather than on what she had been given.

Jill is survived by her husband, sisters Barbara Brancio and Jan Bingham, brother Kim Lockard, nieces Beth Shannon (Lockard) Meyer and Erin Mauree Lockard, and nephews Scott David Bingham and Jeff Lockard Bingham. She was preceded in death by her parents.