Mary Alice Hodges

Mary A. Hodges, 85, of North Fort Myers, Florida, passed away peacefully at Hope Hospice in Cape Coral, Florida Tuesday, December 13 at 1:10 p.m. Mary was born September 3, 1931, in Robinson, Illinois, to Bill and Cora (Wilson) Carpenter. Mary is survived by three sisters: Vera Pratt, Reba Herman, and Elizabeth (Steve) Redman; and one brother, Charles Carpenter. She is also survived by two step-daughters, Dinah Clayton Howell, and Linda Hodges Pfeffer. One brother-in-law, Bill Bennett, also survives. She is further survived by nieces and nephews: Pat (Trudy) Carpenter, Dorothy (Tom) de Torres, Mike (Carol) Rice, Jim (Mary) Rice, Jerry (Dianne) Rice, John (Susan) Rice, Joe (Theresa) Rice, Becky Rice, Debby (Brian) Burt, Steve (Lisa) Rice, Jeff (Bing) Bennett, Brenda (Sky) Price, Sheryl Lenhart, Donna (Charlie) Easterday, Leigh Ann (Doug) Routh, Amy Buxton, Marilyn (Len) Burgess, Sylvia Hodges, Cathy Paularinne, Amy (Jason) Dion, Nathan (Robin) Hodges, Danny (Debbie) Hodges, Jerry Hodges, Ted Hodges, and Mark Hodges. Numerous step-grand children and step-great-grandchildren also are survivors as well as many grand nieces and nephews and great-grand nieces and nephews. Mary is also survived by her friend Leo Selvey of Cape Coral, Florida. The few remaining retired Merchant Marine Veterans from her AMMV chapter also survive Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Cora Carpenter, her husband Frank B. Hodges, a brother Bill “B.K.” Carpenter, and two sisters, Irma Rice and Martha Bennett. Also preceding her in death was an ex-husband Pud Clayton, sisters-in-law Iris Carpenter and Arlene Hodges, brothers-in-law Orville “Dock” Brinkley, Earl Pratt, Vernon Rice, Don Lenhart, Leroy Lashbrook, and Stan Hodges Mary is a 1949 graduate of Charleston High School. She worked all of her life except for the past couple of years. She started at Brown Shoe Company in Charleston; in the mid 1960s she went to beauty school and became a certified beautician. She had a salon on Madison Avenue in Charleston before moving to University Drive. When Frank retired as a chiropractor in 1984, they moved to Florida where Mary continued to work in various salons and was especially favored by many of the Floridian “Snowbirds.” During World War II, Frank B. Hodges was a Merchant Mariner. When they moved to Florida, Frank became a charter member of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Merchant Marine Veterans (AMMV) which conducted 10 luncheon meetings per year. After he turned 80, he quit driving and Mary chauffeured him to the meetings and ate with the group. After Frank died in 2009, Mary continued to attend the luncheons and as a widow of a Merchant Mariner was elected to the presidency, a position she held for seven years and was forced to retire in 2016 by the cancer which eventually caused her to “cross the bar” as the Merchant Mariners describe death. She was an avid bowler and once introduced to the game joined two leagues a week and often competed in the WIBC national tournaments. She had a tremendous sense of humor and will be dearly missed by her friends and relatives. A memorial service will be held in Charleston, Illinois at a later date. Mary was cremated and her cremains were taken to the coordinates on the Gulf of Mexico where Frank’s cremains were taken previously. A local memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, January 28, 2017 at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in North Fort Myers, FL. Arrangements entrusted to National Cremation Society. Special thanks go to Mary’s doctors and the caring personnel at Hospice House in Cape Coral.