Mary Jo Hodges, 77, of Fort Wayne, passed away on Thursday, October 20, 2022. She was born to the late Donald D. and Faye (Gustin) Doll on January 3, 1945 in Fort Wayne. She lived her whole life with love. She loved her dad more than anything else in the world. He was the center of her world as she was growing up and the passing of years did nothing to diminish her adoration. She was desperately in love with our dad from the moment she met him. He likely wasn’t the easiest guy to love but as with everyone else in her life, she saw the best in him and was convinced that they were meant for one another. She loved her kids. She related to all of them in different ways but never gave us any doubt that we were the pride of her life. She always thought that we were such better people than we probably are.
She loved her grandkids with every ounce of her being. She made efforts to make each of them feel special and she loved spoiling them with her attention. She loved Elvis, and Erma Bombeck, and Muhammad Ali. She was asked her once by her kids when they were little if she would choose Elvis over Dad and she pretended to mull it over and finally said she’d likely pick our Dad because she had met him first and she loved him, “Even if he couldn’t sing.” She loved her cats. All animals really, but her kitties most of all. She saved many of them from shelters through the years and they always seemed to return to her what she gave to everyone else; unconditional love. She loved sugar! There’s no way to elaborate very much because she ate sweets whenever she could, whatever form they took. It simply made her happy.
Mary Jo is survived by her children, Robin (Duane) Ginder of Fort Wayne, Thor (Jennifer) Hodges of Columbia City, Noel (Donna) Hodges of Charleston, SC, and Jeremy Hodges of Columbia City; grandchildren, Erica, Alysa, Sarah, Trevor, Austin, Madisson, Landon, Jocylin, Nathan, Jordon, Sadie, Ethan, Ali, and Ruby; great-grandchildren, Genesis, Ellie, Ava, Owen, Judah, Lee, Holly, and Max. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James “Jim” Hodges of Churubusco; and significant other, Wayne Dolbeare.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo.