![]()![]() On March 14, 1949, Patrick and Mary Hopkins arrived in New York City aboard the Royal Mail Ship Queen Mary, leaving behind postwar England and their native Ireland. With their two-year-old son, David, in hand and Mary expecting another child, they stepped onto American soil, hopeful for a better life.
As the family lived in Wallingford, Connecticut, to be close to family, they moved to Astoria, Queens — a bustling neighborhood where Patrick found work as a bricklayer, his lifelong trade. Mary stayed home to raise what became a lively household of six children.
“They came because they knew America was the best thing for our family,” said Honorah Weiss, the Hopkins’ second child, born in Connecticut just weeks after they arrived. The Hopkins lived in Connecticut for a short time after they were sponsored by Patrick’s sister, Lena DuBois.
On a cool, overcast morning, white folding chairs lined the ship’s wooden deck, the Queen Mary — Today, the once grand ocean liner ferrying passengers across the Atlantic — now serves as a museum, hotel, and a stunning venue for special occasions.
Normally, Colin Hopkins, grandson of Patrick and Mary, and his family are busy getting ready for work and dropping off the boys at day care to start the day. But today was different.
Instead of another day of vessel inspections, the Hopkins family made their way to celebrate Colin’s promotion in the very place where his family’s American story began…. the Royal Mail Ship Queen Mary in Long Beach.
The Hopkins welcomed friends and family who had traveled from Texas, New York, and Delaware to share this milestone. As the guests settled in, seagulls glided overhead, and a salty breeze swept through, adding a calm sense of occasion.
For Colin, the ceremony was deeply rooted in family history. The Queen Mary was more than a backdrop- It was the vessel that carried his grandparents to America.
Coast Guard Lt. Gabriel LaMartina opened the ceremony that morning on the deck of the Queen Mary. This was the moment Chief Petty Officer Colin Hopkins, a Marine Science Technician, would be promoted to Chief Warrant Officer — a technical subject matter expert and leader, with two decades of dedicated service, training, and moving from place to place, assignment to assignment.
Unlike his grandfather, Colin never had an interest in laying bricks.
“I was not interested in being a bricklayer,” he said with a smile.
However, inspired by his father Stephen’s time in the United States Merchant Marines, Colin joined the United States Coast Guard in 2005.
“At first I thought it would be just four years and I’d get out,” he recalled. Those early years were tough, and he nearly left. But once assigned to the Port State Control Division, inspecting foreign vessels, he discovered his love for working in marine inspections. That shift cemented a career that would stretch well beyond his original plan.
Since Hopkins has been a marine science technician, doing inspections, he has served at Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit (MSU) Morgan City, MSU Houma, MSU Texas City, Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, and now Sector Houston.
“It’s been my one goal from the start,” Colin said. “I tried my best on every tour, always working toward becoming a warrant officer.”
Perseverance rewarded The path wasn’t easy, as is often the case for those in the field of marine inspections. Many Coast Guardsmen applied multiple times before being selected for warrant officer, and Colin was no exception. Encouraged by his mentors, he persisted.
“It was the reason I stayed,” he said. “I wanted to see this through.”
LaMartina, who worked alongside Colin in the Inspection Division at Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, organized the ceremony and praised him as someone who exemplifies the Coast Guard values.
“Colin Hopkins represents the best of Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, the Coast Guard, and the nation,” said LaMartina, “He honors his family’s journey today by continuing the American story.”
Following the oath, administered by Capt. Jerrod DeWitz, Deputy Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, Kimberly, and family friend Michael Dougherty pinned on Colin’s new-collar device in a time-honored tradition. Kimberly and Colin then exchanged a proud salute for the first time, a moment that reflected years of shared dedication and sacrifice, and several short tours they had to make.
Later, the family explored the Queen Mary together. Honorah walked alongside her nephew Colin, taking in the nostalgia along the corridors, the ocean air, and even the same creaks of the deck her parents must have heard back in 1949, when they were first on board.
“It was very emotional,” Honorah said, touching her heart. “Seeing the playroom, thinking how my brother might have played there — and how brave my parents were to come here the way they did.”
From Ireland’s rugged shores to New York’s bustling streets –and now across the Gulf of Texas, the Hopkins family story is one of perseverance and hope.
Colin will soon transfer from Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach back to Marine Safety in Texas City — the same place he first met Kimberly. As he looks ahead, he’s grateful for the Coast Guard career that helped him reach this milestone.
“I didn’t think I’d stay this long,” Hopkins admitted. “It’s given me more than I could have imagined. Now I want to pay that back and hopefully help someone who’s in the same place I was when I started.”