Mark R. Hopkins started out as an interior designer in the hospitality industry, but ended his career responsible for the procurement of hotel furniture, equipment and everything in between.
In Atlanta, he worked for Intercontinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn chain. There, he oversaw the 2007 redesign of the Holiday Inn Express when the company decided to dress up the brand, make it more hip. The face-lift earned favorable comments from critics and the media.
"That was his baby," said Shirley Raider Hopkins, his wife of 34 years. "He was in charge of that and won some awards for his work."
Two years ago while on a Florida vacation, Mr. Hopkins went to the emergency room with chest pains. He eventually was diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer that had spread to his liver and forced him to retire. He died Sunday from complications of the disease at his home in Smyrna. He was 63.
A funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Sandy Springs Chapel Funeral Directors, which is in charge of arrangements. He will be buried in Marble Hill, Mo., his hometown.
Mr. Hopkins came south to attend the Memphis College of Art, where he earned an interior design degree. In a 30-year career as a commercial interior designer and procurer, he worked for various firms in Tennessee before moving to Atlanta.
While at Gaylord Entertainment in Nashville, he oversaw the design team for the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando. He handled procurement for several projects with Harrah's Entertainment Inc., now Caesars Entertainment, Inc.
In 2003, he moved to Atlanta and joined Intercontinental Hotels. The Holiday Inn face-lift was his last major project before retiring at the end of 2010.
"He was one of the best, to be very honest," said Fred Sassen, a hotel supplier from Atlanta. "He knew his products very well and did his due diligence to make sure the hotel got the biggest bang for the buck. He had some of the best work in the world."
This hospitality specialist enjoyed the outdoors, especially duck-hunting and skeet shooting. The latter became a family affair with trips to championship contests in San Antonio and Savannah. He was Tennessee's 1987 skeet-shooting champion.
"That was a big thing for him," his wife said. "He enjoyed the camaraderie of the sport and kept friends he'd met at events."
Next Monday and Tuesday, the hospitality industry will hold a charity golf tournament at the Governor's Towne Club in Acworth to help pay Mr. Hopkins' medical bills. To date, close to $40,000 has been raised.
Additional survivors include a son, Joshua Hopkins and daughter, Ashley Burns, both of Smyrna; parents Charles and Dixie Hopkins of Cape Girardeau, Mo.; a brother, Gregg Hopkins of St. Louis and a sister, Sarah Hopkins of Cape Girardeau, Mo.
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