John Bryan (Jack) Hodges (May 9, 1952 to Nov. 27, 2018) was born in Washington D.C., grew up in Oxon Hill, MD and moved to Blacksburg, VA to attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute, where he studied economics, electrical engineering and philosophy.
After graduation he lived in Denver, CO for about 7 years and then returned to Blacksburg where he lived for several decades until his unexpected death of a heart attack, one month before his scheduled retirement from the National Bank of Blacksburg.
John was a very kind person with a prodigious memory and keen sense of humor, able to recite jokes from comic strips he had enjoyed, humorous stories, poetry and quotes from serious articles and books. He read widely and intensely, once commenting that after he read 10 books on a subject he felt he had a good understanding of it.
He enjoyed nature in all forms, and planned his 2017 vacation around the August 2017 solar eclipse. John took the time to write cogent letters to the editor on many topics, always presenting an even-minded and thoughtful argument.
With a lifelong interest and dedication to philosophy, he was a humanist, writing that what matters most is how we treat other people and the natural world.
Preceded in death by his parents, Malcolm and Dorothy Hodges, by paternal aunt and uncle and all grandparents, John is survived by his sisters, Rowena and Laurie Hodges and his maternal aunt, Eleanor D. Solan. Burial will be private. Online or other condolences may be sent to www.hornefuneralservice.com. In his memory, John would be honored for donations to either the Red Cross, to which he regularly gave blood for many decades, or organizations dedicated to preserving the natural world. As he often ended his writings, “Do Justice, Love Mercy, and Be Irreverent.”
