Obituary of Michael Tate Yopp

Michael Tate Yopp

November 27, 1941 – January 28, 2021

Mike was born in Rutherfordton, N.C., the second of six children to Nell Tate and William Harriss Yopp, Sr.  After graduating from Hendersonville High School where he competed in football, basketball, and track, he attended St. Petersburg Junior College and then enrolled at the University of North Carolina. In Chapel Hill, he discovered a passion for news reporting and served as managing editor of The Daily Tar Heel. Mike cut his teeth covering the civil rights movement for the paper, and in March 1965, he took a plane and then a bus to Selma, Alabama, to report on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The experience shaped him as a reporter and as a person.

After college, Mike traveled the world in ways that he chose (jaunting around Europe) and ways that he was told (Korea via the Army and the draft). After returning home, he jumped back in the newspaper business and remained there for 32 years. Twenty of those years were devoted to The Raleigh Times, where he worked as a reporter and then as managing editor. Lauded by his peers as a “newsman’s newsman,” Mike hired, mentored, and inspired a generation of local reporters and others who went on to journalism careers across the U.S. and abroad.  After the Times folded, he continued his career at The News & Observer where he fought to maintain a robust newsroom amid the shifting landscape of the U.S. newspaper business.

After retiring from the N&O in 2000, Mike began another career as a part-time instructor, teaching newswriting and reporting courses to hundreds of students at UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Students appreciated his care and attention to their writing as well as his sense of humor. When he wasn’t teaching or at home, Mike could be found at auctions or the Raleigh Flea Market, buying and selling World War II artifacts, indulging a lifelong interest and becoming an aficionado of the war that the U.S. joined just eleven days after he was born. He cultivated many new and lasting friendships among vendors and customers at the flea market and auction houses across the state.

A man of extensive knowledge, Mike had a voracious appetite for history that complemented his flea market adventures. His ability to recount and explain historical events was uncanny and educational for all within earshot. An avid fan of Tar Heel football and basketball (in that order), on many gamedays, he would watch the Heels on a muted TV while blasting Woody Durham’s play-by-play on the radio. Despite his fervor for Carolina sports, in an act of kindness to his sons—both devoted N.C. State fans—Mike resolved to pull for the ‘Pack when not playing against his Heels.

Mike Yopp lived a full life and was loved by many. His gracious spirit, quiet strength, and sincere nature left an indelible mark on those who crossed his path. He inspired people simply by caring about them and by striving to do what was right, not what was popular.

Mike is survived by his loving wife, Jan of Carrboro; two sons, Justin (Colleen) and David (Laurie) Yopp of Raleigh; stepdaughters, Kate (Chris) Valentine of Raleigh and Meg Elliott of Hillsborough; sister, Nell (Wayne) Murray of Rutherfordton; brothers, Alan (Emily) Yopp of Lenoir and Charles (Laura) Yopp of Lake Lure; six grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.  He was predeceased by his parents and brothers Bill and Chris Yopp.

Memorials can be made in his honor to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 1330, Durham, NC 27702, attn: Resource Development, or to an organization of your choice that supports good journalism.

The family gratefully thanks the staff at UNC Hospitals’ Neuro ICU for their support, knowledge, and care and the staff at SECU Jim and Betsy Bryan Hospice Home. They also deeply appreciate the many messages of comfort from Mike’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the family will have a private service at a later date.

Walker’s Funeral Home in Chapel Hill is assisting the family.