ANDREA MARIE (FRECHETTE) HOPKINS

Andrea Marie (Frechette) Hopkins, 78, of West Greenwich passed away on October 8, 2024 from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Andrea was born in Providence, RI to Maurice A. and Regina M. (Skeffington) Frechette. She leaves her husband of 56 years, Mark E. Hopkins.Her children, Kathryn J. Hopkins (Fran Morey) of Tiverton, RI and Jennifer M. Skerrett of Fairfax, VT, and her grandchildren, Elizabeth M. Skerrett of Brooklyn, NY, Anna M. Skerrett of Pittsburgh, PA, and Ian H. Morey of Tiverton, RI.  She also leaves her siblings and their spouses, Maurice Shrader-Frechette (Kristin) of Pasadena, CA, Maureen Maggiacomo (Ron) of Warwick, RI, Paul Frechette (Cher) of Healdsburg, CA, Peter Frechette (David Warren) of Atlanta, GA, her brother-in-law James Hopkins of East Greenwich, RI, her nieces and nephews, and their families. She will be greatly missed by the friends she made throughout her life, and the people she has adopted as part of her family.

Andrea graduated from Coventry High School and the University of Rhode Island, with a degree in Political Science. She retired as Assistant Vice President, Public Affairs at the University of Rhode Island in 2011. Prior to assuming her role at URI, she worked in Marketing for the A.T. Cross Co. and as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Services for AAA Southern New England. Andrea’s work at URI combined her passions of politics, government, and the University. You didn’t have to spend much time with her to know how much she loved URI. She and Mark were basketball season ticket holders for more than 50 years and she was always recruiting and advocating for Rhody.

Andrea was generous with her time and expertise. She was an active member of the URI community, serving as an Alumni Admissions Representative, a trustee of the URI Foundation, a member of the Alumni Association Government Relations Advisory Committee, and a charter member of the Women’s Council for Development. Andrea served as a Trustee and Incorporator of Centerville Bank, and as a Trustee of Kent Hospital and a member of the Kent Hospital Foundation. She was also a member of Leadership Rhode Island, Senator Jack Reed’s Women’s Advisory Committee, and was former President of both the Coventry Public Library Foundation and the Anthony Lyceum Library Association, as well as a member of the Coventry Public Library Board of Trustees.
Andrea was a member of the inaugural class of the Coventry High School Hall of Fame and has also been awarded with the URI Ram Award, the Leadership Rhode Island David Sweet Leadership Award, and most recently the Kent Hospital Foundation 2024 Philanthropist of the Year Award.

Andrea was a willing and eager mentor to anyone who could benefit from her expertise, whether it was high school students who needed a critical eye on their college essays, a young professional who needed a friendly face at a networking event, or a neighbor who needed help with their garden. She was a volunteer judge for the speech competition at Rhode Island Academic Decathlon and would often invite URI students to accompany her to the State House or to political events.

Her pies, desserts, pickles, relishes, jams and jellies will be missed but she has of course shared her recipes and techniques. When her children, nieces and nephews were young she was always willing to bake and decorate the birthday cake of their choosing. Her grandchildren were never without pajamas that she made for them, or a bag of their favorite cookies.

In her, Parkinson’s found a worthy foe who kept the disease at bay for more than 20 years through her commitment to her physical fitness and the treatments recommended by her doctors. She was always stubborn and persistent, and never more so than in her efforts to slow the progression of Parkinson’s. Her participation in studies and programs for Parkinson’s patients at URI’s Physical Therapy Program, the URI College of Engineering, and at Boston University will help others who are diagnosed with this disease.

Andrea often woke before dawn to bake, walk, swim, garden, read, exercise, or listen to NPR. She was rarely idle. If anyone deserves to rest in peace it is her.

A Memorial Service will be on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at 9:30 am in the Iannotti Funeral Home at MAPLE ROOT, 2000 Nooseneck Hill Rd.,(I95/EXIT18/RTE.3) Coventry. Visiting hours are Monday evening, October 14, 2024 from  4 pm to 7 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hopkins Family Endowment at the URI Foundation, or the Coventry High School Alumni Association. If you are a Rhode Islander, please vote yes on Question 2, the Higher Education Facilities Bond Measure, which, if passed, would allocate funds for the construction of the University of Rhode Island Biomedical Sciences Building. iannottifh.com

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