A Catholic priest, Hupp was brought in to run the beleaguered Boys Town in Nebraska in 1973 after it was revealed that the charity home was taking in much more money than it was spending on its charges. Hupp was reluctant to take over, preferring to retire.
“I came in right when things were really boiling,” Hupp said in 1992. “I was viewed as a real rebel.” So much so that he opened the facility to girls, and moved boys out of dormitories and into the homes of the teachers. He also opened the “alternative” Father Flanagan High School, named after the Boys Town founder. He finally did retire in 1985, and lived in a Boys Town apartment until 1993. Monsignor Hupp died in Wisconsin on August 30 from a viral infection. He was 88.