Obituary of James "Hodgie" Edward Hodge

James Edward "Hodgie" Hodge, 70, died Sunday morning, December 18, 2011, in the Monarch Wing at Skiff Medical Center in Newton. Graveside services will be held at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, December 22nd at the Massena Cemetery in rural Massena, Iowa. A visitation with the family will be held from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm Thursday at the Pence-Reese Funeral Home in Newton. A memorial fund for the Massena United Methodist Church has been established in memory of James. James E. Hodge, the son of James Orson Hodge and Bertha Ellen (Kingsmith) Hodge-Crowder, was born March 10, 1941, in Kirksville, Missouri. He had attended school in Villisca, Iowa. On January 14, 1961, James was united in marriage with Carol LaVonne Porter in Grant, Iowa. To this union four sons were born, James, Jeffrey, Reggie and Danny. James and Carol moved to Newton in 1963, from Massena. He was employed in production work by the Maytag Company for 29 years, retiring in 1992. He devoted his life to his wife and family. Hodgie enjoyed fishing, hunting, camping, being outdoors, eating morel mushrooms and crappie and was a collector of old cars. James was preceded in death by his parents, wife Carol in November 1990, sons Jeffrey in infancy and Danny on July 5, 2011 and sisters, Peggy Lewis and Ellen Squires. Those left to honor James' memory include his sons James Elwood (Angie) Hodge and Reggie Leland (Julie) Hodge both of Newton, his daughter-in-law, Teri Hodge of Newton. His grandchildren, Jimmy, Angy, Mike, Amanda, Alex, Cory, Hunter, Zach, Robert, Brandon, Kaci, Brandi, Eric, Tiffany, nine great-grandchildren; his special friends, Ann Duncan and her daughter, Holly of Newton and his many friends.