John Kopff

John “Jack” W. Kopff

92, Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church on Sunday, November 22, 2020. Loving husband of the late Carol L. (nee Hanneke) Kopff; dear father of Matthew (Libby) Kopff, Ed (Cindy) Kopff, Annette (Greg) Schneider, Joan (Nick) Hodes, Andrew Kopff, & Brian (Maria) Kopff; dear grandfather of Kevin (Jennifer)& Megan Kopff, Lydia Kopff, Ben (Stephanie) Schneider & Samantha (Kyle) Howard, Kali (Michael) McGee, Ana (Robert Garza), Angelica (deceased), & Caroline Hodes, & Brendan, Adam, Victoria, & Alexander Kopff; dear great grandfather of Cooper & Lincoln Kopff; dear brother, brother-in-law, uncle, cousin, and friend to many.

John was born July 20, 1928 in a house on Heege Road.  The house was built by his father, William Kopff.  William also built the house next door for his wife, Elizabeth's sister.

John started Kindergarten at St. George, but they lost the house because of the depression, and moved to a rental house on Loughborough near MorganFord.  He finished Kindergarten at Gardenville.

The family was then able to buy a house on Arsenal Street near Tower Grove Park.  John attended Holy Family Catholic School for 1st thru 3rd grade.

During that time, his father built their house on Pavia.  John went back to St. George for 4th thru 8th grade.

For his freshman year of high school, John attended St. John the Baptist.  He liked it, but not the commute.  He transferred to Affton High School because he could walk there.

While in high school, John worked at the A&P on Gravois near his house.  After graduation, in 1946, his dad helped him get a job with Masterbuilt Refrigeration, where he worked in plant production.

John loved baseball and played Muny League ball for Burger Furniture.  For all you sports fans – Ed Albrecht was his team pitcher and Donald Doran, father of professional soccer player Daryl Doran, was also on his team.  They faced

Woltman Jewelers, who had Earl Weaver on their team, but lost to them in the playoffs.

In 1948, John joined the National Guard and was in the 138th infantry.  His brothers, Bill and Everett, advised him to do this to avoid getting drafted into combat.  With the National Guard, he was a heavy weapons specialist on the machine gun squad.  He served the National Guard for 3 years and disliked it.  After discharge, he joined the Army Reserve.  He served the first year on Inactive Duty.  Then he served 2 years on Active Duty Reserve, during which he was stationed at 6 different camps.  The last was in Fort Carson, Colorado, where he was for one year.  Then he was on Inactive Reserve for one year.  During his time with the Army Reserve, he was in the Army Postal Unit.  He had a total of 7 years of service.

John also played baseball while in the reserves.  When he was stationed in Fort Wood, he saw Whitey Herzog play ball.  And at Fort Carson, he saw Billy Martin play baseball.

While with the National Guard, John marched in the parade honoring President Truman when he came to St. Louis.

John used his G.I. Bill to attend night school for 2 or 3 years at Washington University while working for ITT Blackburn.  During this time, he met and married Carol, and the kids started entering the picture.  About 4 or 5 years after stopping at Wash U., he went to Saint Louis University and finished his degree.

Genevieve, his sister, introduced John to Carol - who had started working as a secretary for Genevieve’s husband, Carl.  Carol and John married September 3, 1956 at St. Stephen Protomartyr.

The first family home was on Grasso until 1961.  Matthew arrived in 1957, Edward in 1959, and Annette in 1960.  Carol was pregnant with Joan when the family moved to 3866 Bowen Street.  Joan arrived in 1961, Andrew in 1964, and Brian in 1967.

During the kids’ grade school years at St. Stephen, John managed to coach each of the kids in multiple sports.  He and Carol attended probably every game the kids had in grade school, as well as the many games the kids had while attending high school at St. Mary’s and Rosati-Kain.  He also managed to get himself suspended from CYC for a time – a story Ed loves to share.

John worked for Jasper Blackburn/ITT Blackburn for 35 years.  He retired 1992.  In 1986, he had bypass surgery and hernia surgery.  He told his doctor he never wanted to go through that again and asked what he could do to prevent it.  The doctor said “walk”, and he has been walking ever since - clocking over 16,000 miles around Carondelet Park before his passing.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society appreciated.

Special thanks to the staff at Mercy Hospital South for their compassionate care.

Services: Visitation on Fri, 12/11 from 10am until time of Funeral Mass at 11am at St. Stephen Protomartyr Catholic Church (3949 Wilmington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63116).  Private interment at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.