Mary Ellen (Beatty) Dannemiller Hopkins was born in Washington DC to George W. and Catherine Carroll Beatty, being second in line to older brother James Carroll Beatty.
Mary Ellen (it was always both names, together, never just Mary) grew up and stayed in the DC/MD area her entire life. In her younger years she loved to dance and party. According to family legend, and photo's which have disappeared, she was a beauty, and quite the dancer. Her twins tell of having heard she very briefly danced on Broadway, possibly before she met Jesse, though they have nothing to back that up. The twins do remember parties being thrown when they were very small. And they remember seeing Mary Ellen and Jesse going out to parties. Sometime around 1950-1951, she was driving under the influence and had, or caused, an accident in which Jesse was badly hurt. He survived just fine after healing but this became a huge turning point for Mary Ellen which affected Jesse and the family. She took a much more serious turn, gave up parties, gave up all sweets, and became what she considered a devout Catholic. Eventually she had to be hospitalized, for almost a year. Some say she developed a religious mania. From all accounts it seems it was pretty hard on her family, which in turn must not have been fun for her either.
When she wasn't producing one of her 7 children she worked various office jobs. Mary Ellen was a highly skilled typist, being able to type over 120 WPM. She eventually settled into a job as a legal secretary, and after she got all the kids in school she went back to that, full time.
In her free time she liked talking with friends, trips to the beach, playing cards, or reading. Like most women of her generation she could knit and crochet quite well, and did take the time to teach at least two daughters how to do it. She liked dogs and cats also and usually had one or the other. Surprisingly for a city kid, or maybe because of it, she became very fond of nature and the country, so in 1968, using her inheritance, she moved herself and her last two children out to Gaithersburg MD, which back then was still very rural. The house she bought was surrounded by trees, and their birds, which she enjoyed watching through the window or sitting outside in pleasant weather.
In her last years she spent as much of her free time as she could at her local church, Saint Rose of Lima, doing volunteer work. Back then it was this tiny little chapel of a church on a country road, with it's own little graveyard, surrounded by nature. She loved that little church and the people who ran it, and it became the center of her life in her later years, and where, because she loved it, she chose to rest for eternity. (see photos here) Not many years after she died they erected a modern structure destroying the quaint ambiance forever. I'm not sure, but the old chapel might still be there also. But it's a good thing she wasn't around to see that happen, she wouldn't have liked it.
Throughout her child rearing years and into old age Mary Ellen suffered a mental disorder which she never made clear. She and Jesse were not self-revealing, nor introspective. That was probably a generational thing. She called it depression, her medication hinted at more, but maybe it was simply "severe" depression. Her solution to the problem, on top of the medication she was taking, was to "self medicate" with alcohol which became it's own problem, causing her isolation. She was not inclined to fight it as she found self-medicating preferable to the black hole of depression. She once described the feeling as the weight of the world on her shoulders. So let's hope she's finally found true peace. She's due.
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She was survived by ex-husband; Jesse M Hopkins, her five daughters, two sons, 21 grandchildren, and a very large quantity of great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her 1st husband; Mr. Lawrence Dannemiller.
Mary Ellen (it was always both names, together, never just Mary) grew up and stayed in the DC/MD area her entire life. In her younger years she loved to dance and party. According to family legend, and photo's which have disappeared, she was a beauty, and quite the dancer. Her twins tell of having heard she very briefly danced on Broadway, possibly before she met Jesse, though they have nothing to back that up. The twins do remember parties being thrown when they were very small. And they remember seeing Mary Ellen and Jesse going out to parties. Sometime around 1950-1951, she was driving under the influence and had, or caused, an accident in which Jesse was badly hurt. He survived just fine after healing but this became a huge turning point for Mary Ellen which affected Jesse and the family. She took a much more serious turn, gave up parties, gave up all sweets, and became what she considered a devout Catholic. Eventually she had to be hospitalized, for almost a year. Some say she developed a religious mania. From all accounts it seems it was pretty hard on her family, which in turn must not have been fun for her either.
When she wasn't producing one of her 7 children she worked various office jobs. Mary Ellen was a highly skilled typist, being able to type over 120 WPM. She eventually settled into a job as a legal secretary, and after she got all the kids in school she went back to that, full time.
In her free time she liked talking with friends, trips to the beach, playing cards, or reading. Like most women of her generation she could knit and crochet quite well, and did take the time to teach at least two daughters how to do it. She liked dogs and cats also and usually had one or the other. Surprisingly for a city kid, or maybe because of it, she became very fond of nature and the country, so in 1968, using her inheritance, she moved herself and her last two children out to Gaithersburg MD, which back then was still very rural. The house she bought was surrounded by trees, and their birds, which she enjoyed watching through the window or sitting outside in pleasant weather.
In her last years she spent as much of her free time as she could at her local church, Saint Rose of Lima, doing volunteer work. Back then it was this tiny little chapel of a church on a country road, with it's own little graveyard, surrounded by nature. She loved that little church and the people who ran it, and it became the center of her life in her later years, and where, because she loved it, she chose to rest for eternity. (see photos here) Not many years after she died they erected a modern structure destroying the quaint ambiance forever. I'm not sure, but the old chapel might still be there also. But it's a good thing she wasn't around to see that happen, she wouldn't have liked it.
Throughout her child rearing years and into old age Mary Ellen suffered a mental disorder which she never made clear. She and Jesse were not self-revealing, nor introspective. That was probably a generational thing. She called it depression, her medication hinted at more, but maybe it was simply "severe" depression. Her solution to the problem, on top of the medication she was taking, was to "self medicate" with alcohol which became it's own problem, causing her isolation. She was not inclined to fight it as she found self-medicating preferable to the black hole of depression. She once described the feeling as the weight of the world on her shoulders. So let's hope she's finally found true peace. She's due.
---------------------------------------------------------
She was survived by ex-husband; Jesse M Hopkins, her five daughters, two sons, 21 grandchildren, and a very large quantity of great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her 1st husband; Mr. Lawrence Dannemiller.
Mary Ellen (Beatty) Dannemiller Hopkins was born in Washington DC to George W. and Catherine Carroll Beatty, being second in line to older brother James Carroll Beatty.
Mary Ellen (it was always both names, together, never just Mary) grew up and stayed in the DC/MD area her entire life. In her younger years she loved to dance and party. According to family legend, and photo's which have disappeared, she was a beauty, and quite the dancer. Her twins tell of having heard she very briefly danced on Broadway, possibly before she met Jesse, though they have nothing to back that up. The twins do remember parties being thrown when they were very small. And they remember seeing Mary Ellen and Jesse going out to parties. Sometime around 1950-1951, she was driving under the influence and had, or caused, an accident in which Jesse was badly hurt. He survived just fine after healing but this became a huge turning point for Mary Ellen which affected Jesse and the family. She took a much more serious turn, gave up parties, gave up all sweets, and became what she considered a devout Catholic. Eventually she had to be hospitalized, for almost a year. Some say she developed a religious mania. From all accounts it seems it was pretty hard on her family, which in turn must not have been fun for her either.
When she wasn't producing one of her 7 children she worked various office jobs. Mary Ellen was a highly skilled typist, being able to type over 120 WPM. She eventually settled into a job as a legal secretary, and after she got all the kids in school she went back to that, full time.
In her free time she liked talking with friends, trips to the beach, playing cards, or reading. Like most women of her generation she could knit and crochet quite well, and did take the time to teach at least two daughters how to do it. She liked dogs and cats also and usually had one or the other. Surprisingly for a city kid, or maybe because of it, she became very fond of nature and the country, so in 1968, using her inheritance, she moved herself and her last two children out to Gaithersburg MD, which back then was still very rural. The house she bought was surrounded by trees, and their birds, which she enjoyed watching through the window or sitting outside in pleasant weather.
In her last years she spent as much of her free time as she could at her local church, Saint Rose of Lima, doing volunteer work. Back then it was this tiny little chapel of a church on a country road, with it's own little graveyard, surrounded by nature. She loved that little church and the people who ran it, and it became the center of her life in her later years, and where, because she loved it, she chose to rest for eternity. (see photos here) Not many years after she died they erected a modern structure destroying the quaint ambiance forever. I'm not sure, but the old chapel might still be there also. But it's a good thing she wasn't around to see that happen, she wouldn't have liked it.
Throughout her child rearing years and into old age Mary Ellen suffered a mental disorder which she never made clear. She and Jesse were not self-revealing, nor introspective. That was probably a generational thing. She called it depression, her medication hinted at more, but maybe it was simply "severe" depression. Her solution to the problem, on top of the medication she was taking, was to "self medicate" with alcohol which became it's own problem, causing her isolation. She was not inclined to fight it as she found self-medicating preferable to the black hole of depression. She once described the feeling as the weight of the world on her shoulders. So let's hope she's finally found true peace. She's due.
---------------------------------------------------------
She was survived by ex-husband; Jesse M Hopkins, her five daughters, two sons, 21 grandchildren, and a very large quantity of great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her 1st husband; Mr. Lawrence Dannemiller.
Mary Ellen (it was always both names, together, never just Mary) grew up and stayed in the DC/MD area her entire life. In her younger years she loved to dance and party. According to family legend, and photo's which have disappeared, she was a beauty, and quite the dancer. Her twins tell of having heard she very briefly danced on Broadway, possibly before she met Jesse, though they have nothing to back that up. The twins do remember parties being thrown when they were very small. And they remember seeing Mary Ellen and Jesse going out to parties. Sometime around 1950-1951, she was driving under the influence and had, or caused, an accident in which Jesse was badly hurt. He survived just fine after healing but this became a huge turning point for Mary Ellen which affected Jesse and the family. She took a much more serious turn, gave up parties, gave up all sweets, and became what she considered a devout Catholic. Eventually she had to be hospitalized, for almost a year. Some say she developed a religious mania. From all accounts it seems it was pretty hard on her family, which in turn must not have been fun for her either.
When she wasn't producing one of her 7 children she worked various office jobs. Mary Ellen was a highly skilled typist, being able to type over 120 WPM. She eventually settled into a job as a legal secretary, and after she got all the kids in school she went back to that, full time.
In her free time she liked talking with friends, trips to the beach, playing cards, or reading. Like most women of her generation she could knit and crochet quite well, and did take the time to teach at least two daughters how to do it. She liked dogs and cats also and usually had one or the other. Surprisingly for a city kid, or maybe because of it, she became very fond of nature and the country, so in 1968, using her inheritance, she moved herself and her last two children out to Gaithersburg MD, which back then was still very rural. The house she bought was surrounded by trees, and their birds, which she enjoyed watching through the window or sitting outside in pleasant weather.
In her last years she spent as much of her free time as she could at her local church, Saint Rose of Lima, doing volunteer work. Back then it was this tiny little chapel of a church on a country road, with it's own little graveyard, surrounded by nature. She loved that little church and the people who ran it, and it became the center of her life in her later years, and where, because she loved it, she chose to rest for eternity. (see photos here) Not many years after she died they erected a modern structure destroying the quaint ambiance forever. I'm not sure, but the old chapel might still be there also. But it's a good thing she wasn't around to see that happen, she wouldn't have liked it.
Throughout her child rearing years and into old age Mary Ellen suffered a mental disorder which she never made clear. She and Jesse were not self-revealing, nor introspective. That was probably a generational thing. She called it depression, her medication hinted at more, but maybe it was simply "severe" depression. Her solution to the problem, on top of the medication she was taking, was to "self medicate" with alcohol which became it's own problem, causing her isolation. She was not inclined to fight it as she found self-medicating preferable to the black hole of depression. She once described the feeling as the weight of the world on her shoulders. So let's hope she's finally found true peace. She's due.
---------------------------------------------------------
She was survived by ex-husband; Jesse M Hopkins, her five daughters, two sons, 21 grandchildren, and a very large quantity of great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her 1st husband; Mr. Lawrence Dannemiller.
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MARY ELLEN BEATTY HOPKINS
1917 ╬ 1998
