Promoted to Glory: Major Beatrice Hopper

Major Beatrice Hopper was Promoted To Glory on January 21, 2023, at the age of 81. She served faithfully as a Salvation Army Officer for over 45 years, and well into her retirement.

Beatrice Maude Tidman was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on May 18, 1941 to officer parents Reginald and Minnie Tidman. Being in an Army home she was very active in open-air, Sunday morning and night meetings. She taught Sunday School classes, Girl Guards and even Corps Cadets.

She also worked with a Billy Graham crusade as a counselor dealing with people at the altar. She once stated that it was a real blessing to her and that it would be helpful to her future in winning souls for His Kingdom.

Beatrice was converted at age 14 at a Youth Councils in Richmond, Virginia, where she totally surrendered her life to Christ. In her paperwork for acceptance at the Training College, she stated she gave "all there is of Beatrice Tidman" while the chorus All There Is Of Me, Lord was playing. "I strive each day to live closer to Him in order that I might gain a deeper experience of holiness."

In 1961, Beatrice entered the Training College from Tampa, Florida. It was there she met the man she would marry, Robert Hopper. They were both commissioned in June 1963 with the Servants Of Christ Session. Lieutenant Tidman was appointed to the Baltimore Day Nursery for one year, and then was transferred to Marietta, Georgia as corps officer—where on April 17, 1965, she and Lieutenant Robert Hopper were married.

In January 1967, they were appointed to Columbus, Georgia and later to open a new corps in Phenix City, Alabama. Later corps appointments came at Thomasville and Macon, Georgia. Following a year at the Florida Divisional Headquarters, they were appointed as corps officers to Hagerstown, Maryland and Parkersburg, West Virginia. They later were sent to the Arkansas-Oklahoma Divisional Headquarters, where she served as League of Mercy and Medical Fellowship.

In 1989, the Majors Hopper were appointed to Territorial Headquarters, where she did special service at the conference center. Their next two appointments were as area commanders in Chattanooga, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana.

June 2002 brought a transfer to the Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi Divisional Headquarters, followed by a post at the North & South Carolina Divisional Headquarters—both stints for her as Community Care Ministries Secretary. They retired in July 2007, making their retirement home first in Gainesville, Georgia and later moving to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to be near their daughter.

Major Beatrice Hopper is preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Major Minnie Tidman; and her son, Captain Robert Lee Hopper, Jr., who was Promoted To Glory on December 1, 2001. She is survived by her loving husband of over 57 years, Major Robert Hopper; her daughter, Joyce Hopper; as well as many nieces and nephews as well as other extended family members.

A Celebration Of Life service will be held January 28, 2023, at the Memorial Park Funeral Home in Gainesville, Georgia. Committal will follow that afternoon at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.

—Major Frank Duracher