Barbara Hodges

Barbara Jean Savage Hodges lost her six-year battle against bone cancer on Feb. 27, 2011. She was 80 years old. Barbara is survived by her husband of 61 years, Gerald “Bill” Hodges; her five children, Wade Hodges, a gold exploration geologist, of Reno, Nev., Laurie Bradley, a night monitor at J-J Youth Services, of La Pine, Steve Hodges, a heating and air-conditioning specialist, of Weaverville, N.C., Gene Hodges, a retired Master Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and currently an information technology specialist working for the government, of Springfield, Va., and Nicole Jolin, a hospital pharmacist, of Harrisburg; 15 grandchildren; her sister, Virginia Cochran of Bakersfield, Calif.; and many dear friends. Barbara, born in 1930 to Gene and Madge Savage, lived in Corvallis all her life. She had two sisters, Virginia and Janet, and one brother, Billy. In her youth, she worked at Schrieber’s Dairy, milking cows and delivering milk. Later she worked at the Whiteside Theatre as an usher. She graduated from Corvallis High School in 1948, and married Bill in 1949. She had five children over the next 20 years, and also cared for six foster kids and operated a childcare center out of her home. After raising her children, she worked at Richey’s Market as a meat wrapper. She also had four paper routes, and often commented on how much she loved being up in the early hours of the morning. She also worked out of her home as a re-weaver, and at the Oregon State University seed lab as a seed analyst just prior to retiring. Some of you may remember Barbara holding up the American flag in support of our troops on the corner across from the Benton County Courthouse. Barbara loved to knit, work puzzles, read her Bible, garden and converse with all her friends. It usually took her several hours to go grocery shopping because she knew so many people in town. She just had to visit with everyone she knew. In addition, she deeply enriched the lives of her grandchildren through handmade, educational gifts and cards. Barbara was a longtime member of Suburban Christian Church. She was a very bright, vibrant person who truly loved Jesus, and is with Him now. She always found the good in people, and always had a positive, cheerful attitude about life. Even in her last days, she worked to put the hearts of her family at ease with her always-positive attitude. But Barbara was so much more than any of this. As far as her children ever knew, she was always a loving and supportive wife. If she couldn’t say something nice about someone, she just didn’t say anything at all. The only stern words she ever had were uttered as she did her very best to teach her children what she had learned over a lifetime. She always made the best of every situation. Together with Bill, she helped provide a positive learning environment where you knew that you could make a mistake and that you would have a chance to learn from it without fear of guilt or blame. That she then patiently watched each unique child grow to find his or her own way to happiness and chose to love each of them anyway is a lasting testament to this wonderful wife, mother and friend. Her life seemed to say it is not what happens to you that counts, it is what you choose to do with it that matters. She will be forever loved and missed. Funeral services will take place at 3 p.m. March 19 at Suburban Christian Church, 2760 S.W. 53rd St., Corvallis. Please make donations to the American Cancer Society or to Benton Hospice Service in care of McHenry Funeral Home.

Tributes

Barbara Hodges

October 11, 1930 - February 27, 2011