Frank Kopp

Frank A. Kopp, Jr., age 88 of Pompton Plains and formerly of Wayne, passed away on Sunday, June 23, 2019.

Frank was born in West New York, NJ and raised in Ridgefield. A graduate of Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood with the Class of 1948, he went on to study engineering and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Steven’s Institute of Technology, Hoboken in 1952.

Frank landed his first job as an aerospace engineer with Curtis Wright Corporation. During a long and gratifying career he also held engineering positions with Kearfott Corporation and BAE Systems in Wayne before retiring in 1997.

Frank met the woman of his dreams in what he deemed to be one of the most unlikely of possible places. His mother, Florence Kopp, was a church organist who made Frank and his friends join the church choir. Frank would one day thank her for the greatest blessing that would come from singing in that choir as it allowed him to cross paths with a young woman named Alma Peters. Their first date began with dinner and a swim at the club followed by meeting up with some of Frank’s college fraternity brothers. As time passed, their admiration grew into a loving relationship ultimately leading to marriage on Saturday, February 12, 1955 at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ridgefield. It snowed on that day, but not enough to keep them from exchanging their vows. After the church ceremony and reception, they escaped the cold by driving their car to Florida for their honeymoon.    

The young newlyweds started married life together in an apartment in Ridgefield. One night, they attended a party in what was then a quiet little sleepy town called Wayne. During a light conversation with the host of the party, Frank and Alma expressed some interest about a new development in Wayne. The host warned them that, if they took a look at the development, they wouldn’t be able to resist purchasing. The host’s words proved to be true and, while they never intended to stay in Wayne for a long time, Frank and Alma fell in love with the town as much as they fell in love with the home and ended up staying for a total of 60 years before moving to Cedar Crest Village in 2018.

One of the hallmarks of Frank and Alma’s home in Wayne was his beautiful gardens. The yard was adorned with beautiful flowers and his vegetable garden yielded an annual crop of the most delicious tomatoes which Frank attributed to some of his growing secrets – plant deep and always pinch off the plant’s suckers. Summertime was most enjoyed at his and Alma’s summer home in Narrowsburg, NY in the Catskills where Frank especially enjoyed getting out on the lake for some early morning fishing. Many of Frank’s skills came from being blessed with a keen, analytical mind and those skills were developed already at a young age as a boy scout. In fact, Frank and one of his fellow scouts were actually the first ever to earn the rank of Eagle Scout in Bergen County. Frank could draw and craft almost anything. Always interested in new challenges, he and his life-long friend Carl Hevert started their own enterprise on the side called Kovert, Inc., producing, selling, and distributing large decorative wood candles holders and wood cutting boards.      

Frank was the beloved husband of Alma (nee Peters), blessed in marriage for 64 years. He was the much-loved father of David and wife Ronnie Kopp of Mahwah, and Daniel and wife Gail Kopp of Bedminster; dear brother of Audrey Lago of Dallas, PA; and uncle of numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother-in-law Jack Lago.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Frank’s name are asked to consider a gift to the Arbor Day Foundation, Trees in Memory.

There are two ways to give:

To give online, click on this link: https://shop.arborday.org/, then scroll down and click on Trees in Memory

To give by mail, send a gift to: The Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410
Please indicate that your gift is for Trees in Memory of Frank A. Kopp, Jr.