±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: HighestAce
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6648

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 342
Total: 342
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Community Forums
02: Member Screenshots
03: News
04: Community Forums
05: Community Forums
06: Community Forums
07: Community Forums
08: Home
09: Home
10: Home
11: Community Forums
12: Community Forums
13: Community Forums
14: Home
15: Home
16: Community Forums
17: Member Screenshots
18: Community Forums
19: Member Screenshots
20: Community Forums
21: Home
22: Photo Gallery
23: Home
24: Community Forums
25: Home
26: Home
27: Home
28: Community Forums
29: Community Forums
30: Photo Gallery
31: Community Forums
32: Community Forums
33: Community Forums
34: Community Forums
35: Community Forums
36: Community Forums
37: Home
38: Home
39: Community Forums
40: Home
41: Community Forums
42: Treasury
43: Community Forums
44: Community Forums
45: Community Forums
46: Home
47: Community Forums
48: Community Forums
49: Home
50: Member Screenshots
51: Community Forums
52: Home
53: Home
54: Home
55: Photo Gallery
56: Downloads
57: Downloads
58: Member Screenshots
59: Community Forums
60: Community Forums
61: Home
62: Home
63: Downloads
64: Downloads
65: Community Forums
66: Home
67: Community Forums
68: Home
69: Community Forums
70: Member Screenshots
71: Home
72: Home
73: Community Forums
74: Community Forums
75: Community Forums
76: Community Forums
77: Photo Gallery
78: Home
79: Community Forums
80: Community Forums
81: Home
82: Home
83: Community Forums
84: Community Forums
85: Community Forums
86: Downloads
87: Community Forums
88: Community Forums
89: Downloads
90: Community Forums
91: Community Forums
92: Community Forums
93: Community Forums
94: Community Forums
95: Community Forums
96: Community Forums
97: Community Forums
98: Community Forums
99: News
100: Community Forums
101: Downloads
102: Home
103: Home
104: Home
105: Community Forums
106: Home
107: Home
108: Home
109: Community Forums
110: Community Forums
111: Community Forums
112: Community Forums
113: Home
114: Community Forums
115: Community Forums
116: Home
117: Home
118: Downloads
119: Contact
120: Downloads
121: Your Account
122: Home
123: Community Forums
124: Community Forums
125: Community Forums
126: Community Forums
127: Community Forums
128: Community Forums
129: Community Forums
130: Community Forums
131: Community Forums
132: Home
133: Community Forums
134: Member Screenshots
135: Community Forums
136: Community Forums
137: Home
138: Home
139: Community Forums
140: Community Forums
141: Contact
142: Community Forums
143: Community Forums
144: Home
145: Community Forums
146: Home
147: Home
148: Community Forums
149: Photo Gallery
150: Photo Gallery
151: Downloads
152: Member Screenshots
153: Community Forums
154: Home
155: Member Screenshots
156: Downloads
157: Community Forums
158: Home
159: Community Forums
160: Community Forums
161: Downloads
162: Community Forums
163: Community Forums
164: Community Forums
165: Community Forums
166: Home
167: Photo Gallery
168: Home
169: Downloads
170: Community Forums
171: Member Screenshots
172: Community Forums
173: Home
174: Community Forums
175: Community Forums
176: Home
177: Home
178: Community Forums
179: Home
180: Community Forums
181: Community Forums
182: Community Forums
183: Home
184: News
185: Home
186: Community Forums
187: Photo Gallery
188: Community Forums
189: Home
190: Home
191: Downloads
192: Member Screenshots
193: Community Forums
194: Community Forums
195: Home
196: Contact
197: Home
198: News Archive
199: Your Account
200: Community Forums
201: Community Forums
202: Community Forums
203: Home
204: Community Forums
205: Home
206: Downloads
207: Home
208: Member Screenshots
209: Community Forums
210: Community Forums
211: Photo Gallery
212: Member Screenshots
213: Member Screenshots
214: Your Account
215: Community Forums
216: Community Forums
217: Community Forums
218: Member Screenshots
219: Home
220: Community Forums
221: Home
222: Community Forums
223: Downloads
224: Home
225: Downloads
226: Member Screenshots
227: Member Screenshots
228: Home
229: Community Forums
230: Community Forums
231: Community Forums
232: Community Forums
233: Community Forums
234: Community Forums
235: News
236: Community Forums
237: Community Forums
238: Home
239: Community Forums
240: Home
241: Community Forums
242: Home
243: Community Forums
244: Community Forums
245: Home
246: Home
247: Your Account
248: Community Forums
249: Home
250: Community Forums
251: Community Forums
252: Photo Gallery
253: Community Forums
254: Member Screenshots
255: Home
256: Community Forums
257: Community Forums
258: Community Forums
259: Community Forums
260: Community Forums
261: Photo Gallery
262: Community Forums
263: Home
264: Community Forums
265: Your Account
266: Community Forums
267: Member Screenshots
268: Community Forums
269: Community Forums
270: Community Forums
271: Downloads
272: Community Forums
273: Community Forums
274: News Archive
275: Your Account
276: Home
277: Community Forums
278: Member Screenshots
279: Downloads
280: Downloads
281: Downloads
282: Home
283: Community Forums
284: Community Forums
285: Member Screenshots
286: Member Screenshots
287: Downloads
288: Community Forums
289: Community Forums
290: Community Forums
291: Photo Gallery
292: Community Forums
293: Community Forums
294: News
295: Community Forums
296: Contact
297: Community Forums
298: Your Account
299: Home
300: Community Forums
301: Community Forums
302: Community Forums
303: Community Forums
304: Home
305: Home
306: Community Forums
307: Downloads
308: Community Forums
309: Community Forums
310: Community Forums
311: Home
312: Community Forums
313: Photo Gallery
314: Home
315: Community Forums
316: Home
317: LinkToUs
318: Statistics
319: Home
320: News Archive
321: Home
322: Community Forums
323: Downloads
324: Community Forums
325: Photo Gallery
326: News
327: Community Forums
328: Home
329: Home
330: Community Forums
331: Community Forums
332: Community Forums
333: Photo Gallery
334: Home
335: Home
336: Community Forums
337: Home
338: Community Forums
339: News
340: Member Screenshots
341: Home
342: News

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...
The AFV ASSOCIATION was formed in 1964 to support the thoughts and research of all those interested in Armored Fighting Vehicles and related topics, such as AFV drawings. The emphasis has always been on sharing information and communicating with other members of similar interests; e.g. German armor, Japanese AFVs, or whatever.
Post new topic    Reply to topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  AFV News Discussion Board

View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Doug_Kibbey
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 23, 2006
Posts: 4678
Location: The Great Satan
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2013 2:07 am
Post subject: Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...

Word comes that apparently, Mr. Ropkey has passed. Notice at the museum website indicates that the museum is closed until at least Nov. 18. I don't have anything official, but source is considered reliable. Anyone with additional information is welcome to share it.
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
recon4ww2
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 117
Location: western Ohio
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2013 2:28 am
Post subject: Re: Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...

Yes, unfortunately it's true. Here is some info on his services I received.

Calling - The Ropkey Armor Museum, 5649 E. 150 North, Crawfordsville. 3-7PM, Thursday, 14 November.

Calling - Crown Hill Cemetery, 700 W 38th St., Indianapolis. 11AM-1PM, Saturday, 16 November.

Memorial Service - Crown Hill Cemetery. 1PM, Saturday, 16 November.

Mike Haines
Back to top
View user's profile Send e-mail
JeffStringer
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 637

PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2013 10:28 pm
Post subject: Re: Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...

He will be sadly missed. Crying or Very sad

He is very kind person whom I am glad I had the opportunity to meet and speak with.


RIP



Jeff
Back to top
View user's profile
Neil_Baumgardner
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 3942
Location: Arlington, VA
PostPosted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 2:48 pm
Post subject: Re: Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...

Here is a nice tribute from an Indianapolis TV station

www.wishtv.com/news/lo...IN+-+News)
Back to top
View user's profile
Neil_Baumgardner
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 24, 2006
Posts: 3942
Location: Arlington, VA
PostPosted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 5:22 pm
Post subject: Re: Fred Ropkey has reportedly passed...

And an article in the Indianapolis Star

www.indystar.com/artic...ewell-arms

A farewell with arms
Fred Ropkey collected the armaments of war, and that's where he wanted his friends and comrades to pay their last respects
Nov. 15, 2013

Written by
Robert King

CRAWFORDSVILLE — There’s absolutely no doubt that Fred Ropkey Jr. would have wanted it this way.

The 84-year-old former Marine, whose collection of military armaments included 23 tanks and track vehicles, four airplanes, a helicopter and a mini-submarine, wasn’t big on funerals, but he appreciated his friends and his big guns.

So after he died Nov. 7 after a bout with cancer, the only place fitting for his calling was the Ropkey Armor Museum, the warehouse of restored artifacts of war that he put together over a lifetime and, for the past decade, displayed behind his country home in rural Montgomery County.

The hundreds of visitors who came out to his 60-acre homestead parked their vehicles between and around pieces of field artillery and naval guns that seemingly point in every direction.

Bouquets of fresh lillies and daisies sat nestled atop a bulky troop carrier, an arrangement of flowers and potted plants atop a Japanese tank.

The receiving line, which featured a cast of veterans from each branch of the military and an alphabet soup of vets organizations, queued up between rows of tanks, jeeps, military ambulances and heavy trucks, but stopped short of the hangar containing the Huey helicopter, the submarine, the experimental vertical takeoff jet and the river patrol boat.

“He would have been pleased,” said Lani Ropkey, his widow. “This room represents the essence of Fred. This is what Fred was all about.”

Ropkey earned the money to amass such a collection as the CEO of Ropkey Graphics, which evolved from the printing business founded by his grandfather. But his love for the artifacts of combat dated back to his childhood.

As an 8-year-old , he acquired a Civil War pistol and a sword, said John “Skip” Warvel, Ropkey’s longtime friend and curator of the museum. He read up on the stuff, collected new pieces and entertained his parents’ dinner guests with tours of his room.

As a teen during World War II, he became skillful at identifying the silhouettes of military aircraft.

As a man, Ropkey joined the Marines and was soon selected for Officer Candidate School. While that was a reward for his abilities, it also diverted him from going to Korea with the men who enlisted with him, many of whom died at the Chosin Reservoir.

When Ropkey left the military, his collection began to grow. To cope with the death of his first wife, he bought a halftrack truck. Soon, he added a scout car, and then a tank. Often, Warvel said, he acquired items that were rusted or battered by war, often abandoned, and the two men worked to restore them to battle-ready condition — or at least the appearance of it.

The trick, of course, was that the big guns on the tanks had been permanently disabled, the cache of weapons pointing from turrets and rear windows and side doors were all replicas. The assorted ammunition, including shells standing five feet tall, naval dive bombs and rocket propelled grenades, all had the explosives removed long ago.

What’s still potent — and fully intact — is the Ropkey Armor Museum’s ability to evoke memories for those folks who turned out to pay their respects.

John M. Quinn, an 80-year-old veteran of the Korean War, looked at a deep forest green 2½-ton truck parked along the receiving line and saw his ride to salvation from December 1950.

American and allied troops had pushed so far north they started encountering Chinese troops. The allies decided to pull back.

Quinn, then an 18-year-old airman, watched for hours as tank after tank, truck after truck, rolled by on the road heading south. Finally, with everyone past, his commander told Quinn to get in the 2½-ton truck and start driving. He was last in line.

As he stood in Ropkey’s museum Thursday night, Quinn patted the hood of the truck, gave thanks that it had had plenty of gas for the daylong evacuation, and that its engine hadn’t given out as the Chinese followed from behind.

The value of Ropkey’s collection is hard to estimate — Warvel’s best guess is somewhere between $2 million and $20 million. But to people like Quinn, it is “immeasurable.”

“These pieces of equipment,” he said, “meant life or death.”

Around the museum, as old warriors waited to pay their respects or even after they had, such reminiscences were common. “That,” Warvel said of the memory-reviving ability of the museum, “happened time and again.”

It’s a big part of the reason why Ropkey put together the museum and why he never charged admission, although donations were welcome.

“Mr. Ropkey did this for veterans,” Warvel said.

The museum got its start in 1982 on the Northwestside . In 2004, the Ropkeys moved just outside of Crawfordsville and the additional room enabled the construction of the warehouse-like structures that now shelter the armaments.

Even in a place a couple of miles from I-74, the museum manages to attract about 5,000 to 6,000 visitors a year, most being veterans and school children. The best days, Warvel said, are when the two collide in the museum .

Ropkey’s collection also got some exposure through movies and television. He provided tanks for the television series “Amerika” and movies such as “The Blues Brothers” and “Tank.” The latter starred a young James Garner, whose face appeared in several of the memorial pictures rotating on a television in the museum Thursday. Garner was smiling from atop a tank, with a well-pleased Ropkey standing nearby.

Ropkey’s wife said the museum will remain open. To do so, it may need to reach out in search of funding. But she wants to keep it going as a tribute to her husband.

“It’s one man’s vision. It’s one man’s dream,” she said. “I used to say this was Fred’s field of dreams ... in a cornfield in Crawfordsville.”

One final celebration of Ropkey’s life is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Crown Hill Funeral Home.
Back to top
View user's profile
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Reply to topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  AFV News Discussion Board
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 6 Hours



Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum