Terry G. Hopkins

SILVER SPRINGS, Fla. – Terry G. Hopkins, 81, died at dawn the day before Valentine’s Day, surrounded by family and her dog Pearl.

She was a newspaper woman, and she made the world a better place because of it.

Born Oct. 16, 1944, in Ocala, Fla., to Patricia Gannett of Connor, Fla., and John Gannett of Augusta, Maine. Soon, her father’s career in the Army took them to Japan, where she started kindergarten.

Already a citizen of the world, she was raised in Maine and returned to Florida to live with her grandmother, Catherine Randall, and then graduated from the University of Florida journalism school.

Maine and Florida were close to her heart as Terry and her family traveled the country for work, leaving an impact on each and every town. “A newspaper was a community in conversation with itself,” she would say. As publisher, she cherished her leadership role and its responsibilities to the greater good — a free press and the role that it played.

Starting with the influence of her family’s newspapers in New England, Guy Gannett Publishing of Maine, she was recruited by the Gannett Company Inc. (no relation). Accepting her first post as publisher at the age of 35 at the Ithaca Journal in Ithaca, N.Y., followed by the Norwich Bulletin in Norwich, Conn., and the Fort Myers News-Press in Florida. Eventually, she owned her own press and newspapers in Florida before retiring to care for her grandmother.

Terry was a past board member of the American University of Bulgaria.

She is survived by her daughter, Tricia Dawn Hopkins; her grandchildren, Sam Gish, Kate Hopkins, and Caroline Hopkins; and two siblings, Randall Gannett and Genie Gannett.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 at Plummer Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Augusta, ME 04330. A live stream of the service may be viewed by visiting her tribute page at http://www.plummerfh.com where condolences may also be shared.

Terry was buried at the feet of her beloved grandmother in the family cemetery in Connor, Fla.

Terry will also be honored with a group Hospice memorial service at 5:30 p.m., April 24, at Saint Philip’s Catholic Church in Auburn and again at their annual butterfly release at Geiger elementary school in Lewiston on July 18.

If you would like to do something to honor Terry, buy a newspaper hug your children/parents or talk to a stranger.