WINIFRED BAER HODGIN

HODGIN, WINIFRED ('WINNIE') BAER
Winifred ('Winnie') Baer Hodgin, a World War II Veteran of the Marine Corps, passed away on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at her home in the Atrium, where she had lived for the past 4 years. She was 95. Prior to coming to Gainesville, she resided first in Miami, Florida and then in Oviedo, Florida. She traveled extensively through the Southwestern United States, in particular, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico, where she developed her passion for Native American Art and culture. 'Winnie' was preceded in death by her husband, John E. Hodgin in 2013. She is survived by her loving son, Jon D. Hodgin, MD (Susan Hill), her granddaughter, Katherine Hodgin, MD (Sergio Lopez), and her two great grandchildren, John Sergio and Magdalena Lopez-Hodgin.
Winnie was born on a dairy farm in Calicoon, New York, a hamlet of the town of Delaware, on August 13, 1922. She attended Albany State Teacher's College, where she obtained a degree in education at the age of 19, and later completed graduate studies at the University of North Carolina. She taught high school for one year. At the age of 22, she rode the train by herself to Grand Central Station in New York City and joined the US Marine Corps Women's Reserve. Following boot camp she was promoted to Corporal and served as an instructor at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where she taught munitions training, small arms, and aircraft identification. In 1944 at Camp Lejeune, she met her future husband, a recipient of the Purple Heart, who had served with the 3rd Marine Division at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Guam, where he had been blinded during combat. They married in 1945 and for the next 68 years she lovingly cared for him, always demonstrating a tough resilience and an unfailingly optimistic outlook on life.
Winnie continually looked back at her service as a United States Marine as one of the 'best times' of her life. She loved the Marines and still wore her Marine Uniform hat on every Veteran's Day. Winnie was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother and will be sorely missed by her family and by all those who knew her.
Private services will be held at a later date.
Arrangements are under the care of
MILAM FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES,
311 S. Main St.,
Gainesville, FL. (352) 376-5361.
www.milam.com