Minnie Beth Hodges

Mrs. Beth Hodges, grandmother of six grandchildren, mother of four children, and wife of 58 years to her husband Harvey, died May 23, 2007 after a three-year battle with cancer.

Services were held Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 10 a.m. at the Bible Baptist Church in Electra. Officiating the service was A.W. Cooper of Athens and Nathan Smith of Electra. Interment followed in the Electra Memorial Park under the direction of Aulds Funeral Home of Electra.

Beth Trussell was born in a farm house near Murchison, Texas on May 20, 1931 to Gladys Harper Trussell and Homer Trussell.

She graduated from Brownsboro High School in May, 1948. She was married to Harvey Hodges on November 25, 1948. In 1950 she moved to Electra where she lived the rest of her life, but always kept East Texas as her "second home."

Beth spent her first 23 years in Electra as a homemaker, raising her four children. She began work at Electra Savings and Loan (now CitiBank) in 1973 and retired as the branch manager in 1997. She served as director of the Electra Chamber of Commerce for many of those years.

Beth was a servant of God. She was a member of the Bible Baptist Church since 1951 and filled numerous positions in the church. She was a member of the 1951 Book of Books Club. Her knowledge of the Bible was immeasurable and the map that guided her life every day.

Even though she lived most of her life on the flat plains of Texas where snow was rare, she loved the snowy mountains of Colorado. She started skiing in her 60s and continued to ski into her 70s. Her favorite ski town was Breckenridge, Colorado.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her son Steven Hodges, her brother Charles Allen "Bud" Harper, and a sister, Joyce Smith.

She is survived by her husband, Harvey Hodges; her sons Johnny Hodges and his wife Ellen of Ft. Collins, Colorado, Colin Hodges and his wife Shari of Austin; her daughter Janine Adams and her husband Kurt of Electra; her brothers Danny Shelton and his wife Kay of Brownsboro, Joe Don Shelton and his wife Glenda of Athens; and her sister, Brenda Shelton of Athens.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Joshua Hodges and Kevin Hodges of Ft. Collins, Colorado; Chelsea Vollmer of Rapid City, South Dakota, Brandon Adams and Nicholas Adams of Electra; and Keaton Hodges of Austin.

Pallbearers were Rodney Shelton, Craig Smith, Joshua Hodges, Kevin Hodges, Brandon Adams and Mike Robinson.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Bible Baptist Church, 321 N. Wilbarger, Electra, or the Electra Heritage Society, c/o Jack Hollis, Waggoner State Bank, Electra.

The family would like to thank Dr. Lesley Serrano of Wichita Falls, Dr. David Chang of M.D. Anderson in Houston, and Hospice of Wichita Falls for their excellent care.