Bordo
Winter Haven- Mr. Jodie W. Hamm, age 89, of Winter Haven, FL died Thursday, October 6, 2011 at Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL due to complications following a fall. He was born December 4, 1921 in Altha, FL the son of Joseph and Margaret (Searcey) Hamm. He was a mechanic with Bordo Citrus and member of the Teamster’s Union. He was a member of Parkland Baptist Church.
In addition to his parents, Jodie was preceded in death by his first wife Viola, siblings Coy Hamm, Gertrude Smith, Ray Hamm and Joseph Grady Hamm. He is survived by his wife Lucille Hamm of Winter Haven, children Joseph Hamm (Sharon) of Atlanta, GA, Betty Baucom (Warren) and JoAnn Shaw (George) both of Seffner, FL, James Jones (Sue) of Winter Haven, Pat Shingleton (Roger) of Lake City, FL and Linda Campbell (Terry) of Littleton, CO, 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren and multiple nieces and nephews.
Memorial services are Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:00 am at Parkland Baptist Church.
Memorial donations may be made to charity of choice.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.ott-laughlin.com
JODIE W HAMM
Jodie was born in Altha, Florida on December 4, 1921 to Joseph and Margaret Hamm. He was the youngest child, joining older brothers Grady, Ray, Roy and Coy Hamm and sister, Gertrude Hamm Smith. He was preceded in death by all of his siblings.
He is survived by his daughters, Betty Baucom and her husband, Warren (Seffner), JoAnn Shaw and her husband, George (Seffner) and his son, Joe Hamm and his wife, Sharon (Atlanta, Georgia). With his marriage to Lucille, he “inherited” two more daughters, Linda Campbell and her husband, Terry (Littleton, Colorado) and Pat Shingleton and her husband, Roger (Lake City, Florida) and a son, James Jones and his wife, Sue (Winter Haven). Although they were all grown, he accepted them as his own.
Jodie is also survived by 13 grandchildren. They are Ian Shaw, Ira Shaw, Larry Baucom, Walter Baucom, Warren Baucom, Matthew Hamm, Rebecca Hamm, Rick Campbell, Leann Campbell Smith, Roger Lee Shingleton, Shannon Jones, Erin Jones Euverard and Megan Jones Evans. He and Lucille were also blessed with 19 great grandchildren – Ezra Baucom, Veronica Baucom, Conner Baucom, Savannah Shaw, Abby Shaw, Haddy Shaw, Maddy Shaw, Reagen Shaw, Nash Baucom, Delaney Baucom, Carson Euverard, Cassie Euverard, Emilee Moore, Liam Evans, Austin Shingleton, Neveah Shingleton, Logan Shingleton, Aubrey Rose Smith and Abel Smith.
Jodie loved to tell stories of the “good old days” although he had a rather hard childhood. He often talked about working on the farm as a young man, walking behind a mule in his father’s fields. He left school early in life to help out at home. He would tell the story about one of two times that he ever remembered being openly defiant with his father – they had gone to the store and he saw a shiny red wagon that he really, really wanted. His father said no and Jodie said that he threw a full blown temper tantrum right in front of the store. He said that he never truly understood what changed his daddy’s mind, but he went in and bought the wagon. When they got home, his daddy told him that he was expected to use the wagon to haul wood at home….. which he gladly did since he had his wonderful wagon!!! He said he pulled that wagon around the yard until the wheels wore off! The second time that he defied his parents, he was a teenager. He had asked to go to a gathering of his friends and was told that he could not go. He decided to “sneak” out and go anyway…. On his way home, a skunk followed him all the way home, causing him a great deal of discomfort. When he got home, he decided that he would never disobey his parents again.
Jodie married his first wife, Viola, as a very young man. He took up farming for himself, growing crops such as peanuts and cotton. In the early 1940s, Jodie and his young family moved to Eloise where he began working for Bordo Citrus as a mechanic. Jodie’s mother lost her sight so during this time, he and Viola cared for his parents in their home. Jodie lost Viola to cancer, leaving him with two grown daughters and a young son.
On June 8, 1968, Jodie married Lucille Jones, who was a widow with 4 grown children of her own. They were married at Parkland Baptist Church, where Lucille and her family were charter members.
During those early years of their marriage, Jodie and Lucille loved to travel. They drove to many of the southwestern states, California, Kansas and often traveled to New York. Jodie loved the mountains. He also loved to return to Altha to visit the old homestead. This past summer, Jodie told Sue that he thought that he wanted to go in an airplane because he had never done that. Sue would soon be flying to her dad’s so she offered to take him…. Of course, he said that he didn’t think it was a good time…. Somehow we are sure that he truly had NO INTENTION of boarding an airplane, but he liked to tease Lucille about it.
Jodie loved music…. Often singing the old hymns…. He was not always on key but he was always enthusiastic! He and Lucille often traveled in their earlier years to hear various gospel groups. He especially liked the Gaithers. Country music also made him tap his foot.
Jodie was also an avid fisherman, probably fishing most of the lakes in the Winter Haven area. Another past time was woodworking, where he was always building flower carts and pots, among other things. When Erin and Megan were young, he would help them make various items in his wonderful workshop.
In the early 1970s, Jodie was honored as the Top Blood Donor for the Winter Haven Blood Bank, for which he received several tokens of appreciation, as well as an article in the local paper.
In later years, Jodie and Lucille would spend countless hours making crafts to distribute to nursing homes and the hospital. Many of them included crosses and inspirational sayings, one of the many ways that they shared their love of the Lord.
When Jodie worked as a supervisor at Bordo, he was always helping those that worked with him. One of the special things that we remember about Jodie is that when one of his employees would retire, Lucille would fix a meal for them and Jodie would always present them with a Bible. He was definitely a man who was proud of his faith and was willing to share it with anyone that he met.
Jodie loved Parkland Baptist and attended faithfully when his health allowed. When his granddaughter Megan, was young, he took her to church every Sunday and they followed church with going out to lunch each week. She looked forward to that time. Jodie also enjoyed attending the Wednesday night suppers for many nights. He loved the fellowship of his fellow Christians. Several years ago, Jodie and Ed Gracia would have a weekly time of prayer, something that Jodie looked forward to. He and Lucille still attended Sunday School as often as they could.
One of Jodie’s favorite times of year was the Christmas season. He looked forward to the Sunday School Christmas Party. Each year he would try to think of something fun to take to the gift exchange and anticipate what items might be there. After the last Christmas party that he attended, he came home so excited that he had been the last person to choose a present and he was able to get a “singing flower” for Lucille! It was one of his latest additions to his large collection of singing, dancing toys – all started by his “acquisition” of the famous Singing Bass – which still hangs in his family room! Also, he and Lucille always hosted a Christmas reunion at their home, often having 30 or 35 people. Every year, they would say that they were not going to fix a lot of food and it would just be simple – and every year, the tables would OVERFLOW with all kinds of wonderful food with everyone taking home leftovers galore! Last year, the family decided to go to Fred’s and it was very nice, but Jodie said that he missed having everyone over and wanted to resume the old tradition this year.
Jodie loved animals. When he and Lucille were first married, they had a dog named Princess. Jodie “trained” Princess to run up to Lucille when she was bent over working in the yard and jump up on her hind end and knock her down. He simply had to say “go get her” and off she’d run. Lucille had to watch to see where Jodie AND Princess were before she worked in the yard. He also had a dog named Duke, who grew so big that he could not be controlled. Viola’s brother, Aubry, lived on a farm in Altha, so Jodie gave Duke to Aubry but would often make trips up there to check on the dog. In more recent years, Jodie would love to sit and watch the birds and squirrels in their yard.
When Jodie retired from Bordo, he found it necessary to find other employment. He went to work for his nephew, Chester Hamm, installing commercial fire sprinkler systems. Chester paid him $8.00 per hour and provided him with a company pick up truck. Jodie was so proud, saying that that was the most money that he had ever made in his life!
Jodie gave up driving several years ago, but not after having TWO of his cars stolen. Anyone that ever drove behind Jodie in his later years knew that he drove very, very slowly. We used to tease him that the people who stole his cars did not want his cars, but were people that had been behind him as he drove around Lake Elbert and wanted to take him off the road! He never really found the humor in that….
Jodie was a special man, who loved his God and his family. He would do anything he could for others and always had a smile and positive outlook. Although he did not attend school for long, he was proud that all of his children completed higher education. He enjoyed his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren.
Jodie went to be with the Lord around noon on Thursday, October 6, 2011 as a result of complications from a fall. This was less than 2 months short of his 90th birthday, which he looked forward to and talked about having a birthday party. Surely he will have the best party ever in Heaven this year. He will be sorely missed by those of us he left behind.
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