EUGENE HODGE

Eugene Hodge Born February 15, 1929 in Genoa, Nebraska; died February 24, 2011 in Tacoma at the age of 82. He was a Tacoma resident for over 50 years. Following his graduation from Bremerton High School in 1947, Eugene began work in the electrical trade, holding jobs at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard and then for the Great Northern Railroad. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 and was deployed to Korea during the Korean War. Upon his discharge from the Army, he resumed work as a railroad electrician. He married Olga Schafrick in June of 1956. A dedicated husband and father, Eugene retired at the end of 1984 after a 31-year career in civil service. He spent the majority of his years working in the field of electronics for the Department of the Army at Fort Lewis, where he provided maintenance, instruction and supervision for weapon systems. He is survived by his wife Olga, daughter Jenny (Jim) Liebelt, and brothers Dean (Donna) Munson of Olympia, and John (Kay) Hodge of Tacoma. Eugene died of mesothelioma, a cancer usually contracted by inhaling asbestos fibers. Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive and incurable cancer that may lay dormant in victims for decades. It claims the lives of some 3,000 Americans each year, many of which, like Eugene, were exposed by working in areas where asbestos was frequently used as insulation. Industry officials knew of the dangers of asbestos as early as the 1930s, but it was still widely used in the U.S. as late as the 1970s. While highly regulated since 1989, the U.S. remains one of the few industrialized nations in the world that has not completely banned the use of asbestos. A memorial service for Eugene will be held on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 10 a.m. in the Aspen Chapel at Mountain View Funeral Home in Lakewood. Private burial at a later date at Tahoma National Cemetery.