Obituaries:  A. J. Hodges, Sr., Sabine Parish       H-322
Source:  Sabine Index, Many, La., Dec 16, 1966
Submitted by: Carl Dilbeck
              carlrad@earthlink.net


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A. J. Hodges, Sr. (Photo)

  Residents of Sabine Parish, and all of Louisiana were saddened
Saturday afternoon, to learn of the death of A. J. Hodges Sr.,
76, prominent oilman, and founder of Hodges Gardens. Mr. Hodges
died at Fraser Hospital Saturday afternoon, following a short
illness.

  Funeral services were conducted Monday, at 3:30 p.m., in the
Osborn Funeral Home Chapel in Shreveport.

  Officiating were Dr. D. L. Dykes, pastor of the First Methodist
Church of Shreveport, assisted by Dr. Kelly Fitzgerald, pastor of
the First Baptist Church of Many, and the Rev. W. H. Bengston,
pastor of the First Methodist Church of Many.

  Burial was in Forest Park, with the following serving as
pallbearers: John W. Melton, Paul Brown, Ray Oden Sr., David E.
Smitherman, C. B. Byrd Jr., Dr. John A. Hendrick, Dr. Swepson E.
Fraser, Emmett Sedberry, Floyd James, and Eugene McElvaney.

  Mr. Hodges was born March 22, 1890, at Cotton Valley, the son of
the late Addie Reynolds and Floyd Crawford Hodges.

  Beginning his business career in merchandising in Cotton Valley,
he later became interested in oil and gas exploration, and was a
participant in the development of the Cotton Valley, Sugar Creek,
and Sligo oil and gas fields.

  Mr. Hodges moved to Shreveport with his family in 1924, and in
the early 1940's, began to acquire cutover timberlands in a
number of Northwest Louisiana parishes, undertaking a program of
reforestation, which eventually led to the development of Hodges
Gardens.

  Mr. Hodges lived at his home in the Gardens, and until the time
of his death, was active in the administration of the Gardens,
and the forestry experiment area, and the wildlife refuge, which
are operated in conjunction with the Gardens.

  In 1965, the Louisiana Architects Association of the American
Institute of Architects presented him with the Project Earth
award for his contribution to "beautification of this state
through the creation of Louisiana's Garden in the Forest".

  Mr. Hodges was a charter member of the Louisiana Forestry Assn.,
and was past president of A. J. Hodges Forest Products Inc.,
which was recently acquired by the Boise-Cascade Corp.

  He served as a trustee of Centenary College, was an active
supporter of the Centenary College Choir, and was a member of the
First Methodist Church of Shreveport.

  Mr. Hodges was formerly a director of the Homer ?, and at the
time of his death, was a director of the Louisiana Bank and Trust
Co., was chairman of the board of A. J. Hodges Industries Inc.,
and was director and trustee of the A. J. and Nona Trigg Hodges
Foundation.

  Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Chlothilde Towler Hodges; one
son, A. J. Hodges Jr.; and three daughters, Mrs. James E.
Smitherman, Mrs. John J. Dailey Jr., and Mrs. C. H. Jeter, all of
Shreveport; one brother, John C. Hodges of Knoxville, Tenn.; 13
grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

  Mr. Hodges' brother, John C. Hodges has initiated the Andrew
Jackson Hodges Memorial Fund for the library of Centenary
College. Friends and others may contribute to the fund, which was
termed a "living tribute" to Mr. Hodges.