After finishing school, David Hopwood spent time in the Marine Corps, worked as an over the road trucker, made and sold ice cream and had several other odd jobs. Throughout, his uncle, a longtime bus operator, encouraged him to apply at what was then known as the Metropolitan Transit Commission. At 25 years old, he got his chance, making $3.35 an hour as an operator out of the old Snelling Garage. It was the start of what would ultimately become a 32-year career in transit.

Hopwood’s time as an operator was relatively brief but formative. While driving, he met the woman who would become his wife and the mother to the couple’s four daughters. “The first thing I said to her was, ‘What’s your problem? You’re the only woman on this bus who hasn’t asked me out,” Hopwood recalled.

In 1996, a bad back left Hopwood unable to continue as a bus operator. While temporarily reassigned, a stockkeeper job opened and he applied. The job required computer skills he didn’t have – a co-worker helped type and submit his application – but he convinced the manager to hire him by saying he wouldn’t have to break any bad habits while learning on the job. “I still can’t type worth a darn,” he said shortly before retiring. “I got very fortunate.”

Hopwood enjoyed his new job’s schedule, the comfort of working indoors and the chance to work at Ruter Garage, just a few miles from his home. But he was equally fond of the people he worked with, who he came to see as extended family. “I’m closer to these mechanics than I am to my own brothers,” he said. One the friends Hopwood made through work led him to another life-changing moment, convincing him to travel together to Arizona where Hopwood met a 2-year-old girl he would later adopt. “This place just changed my life,” Hopwood said. “It brought me my family, my friends…all because I was here. It’s been my purpose to be here.”

During his career, Hopwood, known to most as Woody, spent several years as a union steward for the ATU Local 1005. He planned to remain active with the union in retirement. Approaching his retirement in early-2021, Hopwood said he also planned to spend his more time with family and friends, working on his house, watching westerns and assuming the role of Santa Claus over the holidays.