Tenacious civic leader Jane Lopp dies

Longtime Kalispell businesswoman and consummate community leader Jane Lopp died Friday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle from injuries sustained in an April 18 vehicle accident in Kalispell. She was 73.

Her untimely death came as a shock to the greater Flathead Valley community where she was actively involved on many levels. Though confined to a wheelchair for decades because of a muscle disease, her passion and enthusiasm were unbridled, no matter the organization or endeavor.

A 2001 Inter Lake feature story about Lopp summed up her zeal in one upbeat phrase: “Life is fun,” she said.

For decades she and her husband Bob have been involved in myriad civic activities and organizations.

“She was an amazing community activist and so civically engaged,” said Sherry Stevens, executive director of United Way for Northwest Montana. “She was very much a pillar in our community.”

Stevens said Lopp was involved with every facet of United Way.

“She was always looking at how to make the community a better place,” Stevens said. “She was always trying to think outside the box. Despite her disability, she forged forward in a way that was an example to all of us.”

Stevens said she worked with Lopp in various other organizations through the years, and one thing was certain: “If you had Jane Lopp on your board, things got done.”

Lopp was the principal of Jane Lopp & Associates, a financial consulting and insurance business in Kalispell. She began her career in financial planning and insurance in 1979 and joined Prudential in 1997. She was a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable and in 2005 was named one of the top 15 financial planners nationally by Prudential.

In nearly every endeavor, Lopp stepped up to a leadership role, and her professional career was no exception. She served on a string of boards, including the Montana Life & Health Guaranty Association and Northwest Montana NAIFA, and held offices in both associations.

Since 2008 Lopp has served on the Flathead County Library Board, now the ImagineIF Library Board. She was board chairwoman for two years and currently was vice chair.

“Jane was the epitome of what a library trustee should be,” said Kim Crowley, director of ImagineIF Libraries. “She was always prepared, always had an informed view and a story to back it up, and relentlessly supported staff. I find it hard to imagine a world without Jane in it.”

Crowley said Lopp was a tireless advocate for libraries and was well-loved across the state through her involvement with the Montana Library Association.

“Other librarians were envious that ImagineIF had such involved board members, especially Jane,” Crowley said. “ImagineIF would not be the library it is today without her tenacity, her board leadership, and her caring and thoughtful nature. … She was eager and inquisitive and asked probing questions. I felt I learned at least as much from her as she did from me.”

Lopp was very active in the American Association of University Women for more than four decades, serving as state president in the early 1980s and as local branch president first in the early 1990s and again when the Kalispell branch celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2013. Lopp told an Inter Lake reporter many years ago she attributed a lot of her personal growth to AAUW.

“She was very strong in the empowerment of women and accomplishments of women and girls,” longtime friend and AAUW member Mary Gibson said. “She was an amazing woman and one of the smartest, most caring people I know.”

Gibson said that beyond Lopp’s lengthy list of accomplishments and activities, she was kind and caring in ways the public did not see. The last time Gibson saw her friend of 45 years was on a recent Sunday afternoon as she drove away from Brendan House, where Lopp had delivered goodies for residents of the care facility.

“There were many other things in which she quietly touched people’s lives,” Gibson noted.

Lopp’s involvement ran the gamut. She was an advocate for the disabled, serving on the DREAM board for many years. She served on the Flathead and Montana Child Abuse Prevention Councils. Economic development, human rights, gender fairness and youth development were other areas of involvement. Lopp also was involved with the Republican party at the local and state levels. She had been a member of the Flathead County Republican Women since 1969.

The Lopps were awarded the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s Great Chief award in the mid-1990s.

Jane and Bob met when her parents brought her to an art show at the home of Lopp’s father. But it was a little later, when he delivered a painting to Jane’s parents’ home, that they began making music together, literally. He had brought along some duet piano music and the two began playing and continued playing duets for decades.

They married at the end of her freshman year at the University of Montana; she later finished her English degree in summer school when they returned to Kalispell in 1968, two children later. The Lopps celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2013.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Darlington Cremation and Burial Service, 3408 U.S. 2 E. A reception will follow at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1840 U.S. 93 S. in Kalispell.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.