COMM U N I T Y
NORMANITES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Hoppers T
Br i a n, B ra n d on a n d Kev in Hopper.
his year’s United Way of Norman campaign features a trio of co-chairs: the Hopper brothers.
Kevin, Brian and Brandon Hopper grew up around the United Way of Norman through their mother’s involvement. After staying at home with her sons, Kathey Drummond went back to work as the director of Helpline in 1985 before moving into the executive director role for United Way. Drummond later joined the Norman Regional Health System, where she retired as vice president in 2011. Her career was spent in the not-for-profit world and this service-oriented life rubbed off on her children. The Hoppers recalled early memories of joining in their mom’s volunteer efforts, whether that was attending United Way kickoff events or delivering flowers to shut-ins after Sunday church services. Drummond explained that when her family lived in Texas before moving to Norman, she was a Meals on Wheels driver. Kevin and Brian were around 4 and 2 years old, respectively, and would ride with her, one being in charge of getting the food out of one cooler and the other grabbing the dessert. Drummond said her parents were sweet, caring people who taught her to care for others, and she thought it was important for her children to do the same thing. Now, Drummond sees her sons raising their children to help people, too.
26 | July 2021
“My heart is just full looking at these three boys, and knowing that they’re sort of service above self, that they’re looking at other people and raising their children that way,” Drummond shared. “So, here we go with another generation of people who will care, which is good.” All three Hopper children decided to stay in Norman to attend the University of Oklahoma, and so far their college-aged children have done the same. Kevin and his wife, Shelley, have two children, Fletcher and Ryan Paige; Brian and his wife, Stephanie, are parents to Caleb, Claire and Patrick; and Brandon and his wife, Traci’s, kids are named Taylor, Jake and Avery. Professionally, Kevin and Brandon are both commercial lenders, for MidFirst Bank and First United Bank, respectively, while Brian is a partner in a commercial landscape business, Landscapes USA. Currently, the United Way of Norman funds 39 programs and 27 organizations in the area and serves nearly 60,000 people each year. Because of their mom, the Hoppers have been involved with United Way through direct and indirect ways since they were kids. As adults, Kevin and Brandon have been active volunteers with United Way for several years, while Brian is newer to direct involvement with the organization, joining the Financial Stability Impact Council last year. “People sometimes want to give a single cause, which I totally
