Richard "Rich" Hoppe

Richard A. “Rich” Hoppe, age 85 of New Munich, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on Thursday, May 28, 2026 at the Tree of Life Assisted Living in New Munich, Minnesota.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 2 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Munich with Rev. Daniel Walz officiating. Inurnment will be in the parish cemetery with military honors by the Melrose Veterans Honor Guard.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday and from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Munich. The Melrose Veterans Honor Guard will pray at 6 p.m. Monday evening at the church.

Richard Aloysius Hoppe was born on October 3, 1940 in New Munich, Minnesota, to Math and Catherine (Nathe) Hoppe. Following his graduation from Melrose High School in 1959, he proudly served in the United States Army from May 1962 to 1966. On October 17, 1964 he was united in marriage to Florence “Flossie” Koenig at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Munich. Together, they were blessed with four children. Rich worked as a mechanic for local shops and later worked at Kraft Foods for nearly 20 years. During that time, he was a bus driver for the New Munich Bus Service for over ten years. After the fire at Kraft, Rich worked for Worms Lumber and Ready-Mix as a Ready-Mix driver.

He was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in New Munich, Melrose American Legion Post 101, Schanhaar-Otte VFW Post 7050, New Munich Lions, and the New Munich Fire Department. Rich enjoyed bowling, fishing, spearing, camping, deer hunting, gardening, and coaching little league baseball.

Survivors include his children, Janice (Sam) Kramer of Freeport, Karen Hoppe of Melrose, Jim (Laura) Hoppe of New Munich, and Tom (Terri) Hoppe of New Munich; grandchildren, Ty (Kaylee) Reller of Melrose, Courtney Althaus of New Munich, Dillan Hoppe of New Munich and Erika Hoppe of New Munich; great-grandson, Lincoln Reller; sisters, Ethleen Spanier of Paynesville, and Mary (Dan) Krueger of New Munich; and sister-in-law, Theresa Koenig of Sauk Centre.

Rich was preceded in death by his wife, Florence Hoppe on September 22, 2023; parents; grandson, Brennen Hoppe; brothers, LeRoy (Jeanne) Hoppe and Celestine (Marion) Hoppe; infant sister, Kathleen Hoppe; brothers-in-law, Melvin Spanier and Ed Koenig; and sister-in-law, Mary Ann (Edmund) Zierden.