Robert Richwine Hodge

1923 - 2021

Robert (Bob) Richwine Hodge

age 97, of North Canton, Ohio, passed away peacefully on April 27, 2021. He was born December 23, 1923 to Clayton and Marie Richwine Hodge of Wooster, Ohio. Bob graduated from Apple Creek High School in 1941 and was president of his class. Bob was a veteran of World War II and received a Purple Heart for being wounded in combat with the 14th Armored Division. After he recovered, Bob returned to the family farm, then managed a farm and industrial equipment business. After that he was the managing partner of Ohio Silo Co. in Wooster. He sold insurance for several years in Youngstown, then bought a Roto-Rooter franchise operating in Wayne, Medina, Holmes and Ashland counties. He retired from that business in 1988. He is a member of the Apple Creek American Legion Post #147, the Wooster Masonic Lodge Ebenezer #33 F&AM, Scottish Rite Free Masonry. A highlight in recent years was taking an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. in 2012 with other local World War II veterans. He was an active member of The North Canton Church of Christ and The Hearts of Gold. Bob began life as part of the 5th generation on the family dairy farm east of Wooster. He was a member of the East Union Lutheran Church, serving in leadership positions including Board member, Sunday School superintendent and summer festival chairperson for many years. The Hodge family, including when Bob was a farmer, maintains the original Church cemetery located on the farm. He shared childhood memories of watching old Route 30 being created from a former stagecoach road that cut the farm in half. The tar-covered bricks, required to be removed from the roadbed were given to any who could cart them away, and can still be seen as the foundation for many barns in Wayne and surrounding counties. He and his brothers spent a summer scraping tar off the road bricks which they used to build one of the barns still standing on the Hodge family farm.

Bob is survived by his son Gary R. (Wilma) of Findlay; daughter Peggy H. Ingalls of North Canton; stepdaughter Sandra K. (Robert) Lowry of Louisville; stepson William R. Truax of Canton; 3 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren; sister-in-law Marilyn Hodge; and step son-in-law Michael Raleigh. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Anna Hodge; brother Ervin (Marion) Hodge; sister Sevilla Marie (James) Jewell; brother Richard Hodge; son-in-law John D. Ingalls; and stepdaughter Patty Jo Raleigh.

A private memorial service will be held at the Reed Funeral Home North Canton Chapel on Pittsburg Avenue NW in North Canton, Ohio. Ted Blackwood, minister at the North Canton Church of Christ, will officiate. There will be a Masonic service and at the cemetery Military Honors. Interment will be at Sunset Hills Burial Park in the Masonic Garden. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the North Canton Church of Christ, 1301 East Maple Street, North Canton, OH 44720. The family extends its thanks to Windsor Medical Center and Colonies for the excellent care Bob and Anna received over many years.

Reed, 330-477-6721