Edwards Ritchie Hopple

January 6, 1930 - March 8, 2020

EDWARDS RITCHIE HOPPLE January 6, 1930 - March 8, 2020 Ed Hopple was fun, caring and giving. He loved life, traveling, his children and grandchildren and a Manhattan on the rocks. Hopple lived the last 33 years of his life with metastatic prostate cancer. He lived and lived fully. Hopple was born in Cincinnati, OH spent a good portion of his business life in Bakersfield but loved Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and the Adirondacks, N.Y. If he knew you, almost knew you or liked you, he would invite you to use his homes. "Bring a change of underwear, I have everything else," he would say. Hopple, an Armyveteran who had a successful career in the radio and advertising business, was generous. "Ed donated to everything and was the most giving person I've ever met," said Mike Allen, general manager of the stations and business partner of 43 years. "He supported every kid who had a project. Besides his own children, he probably sent another seven or eight kids to college." He was a member of the North Bakersfield Rotary, one of the first board members for CSUB, donated to the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and was on the Mercy Hospital Board. Hopple was relentlessly positive, fun and was always looking for a laugh. "Once Ed invited Superior Court Judge Jack Lund to his place in Mexico," Allen said. "Before he left, he printed 12 t-shirts with Lund's photo on it. He paid a street vendor $100 to approach Lund when he was lying on the beach and sell him one of the shirts. Lund waved him away but the salesman wouldn't quit. Finally, Lund looked and said, "Who gave you those things?" There were Ed-isms: When friends said goodbye, Hopple would said, "Write if you get work," or "See you in the funny papers." To his employees, he would say, "When the cat is away, the mice act like rats." In addition to being a pioneer in Hispanic broadcasting in the southern San Joaquin Valley and classical music (lost money but didn't care), career highlights include being the Marketing Director for the Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel, owning the Biltmore Hotel in North Lake Tahoe, KENO Las Vegas, KWAC-KCHJ-KIWI and KMAP (Radio Disney) in Bakersfield. Survivors include his daughter Lori Cirella (husband Mark), granddaughters Abby Coburn (husband Matt), Courtney Cirella, daughter Susan Brownell (husband Skip) and grandson Dylan, daughter Meri Hopple, grandsons Ryan Roberts, Eddie Roberts (wife Danielle), great-granddaughter Brooks and niece Vicki Coleman (wife Chase).