Edwin Bode

August 16, 1938 - January 11, 2016
Edwin Derrell (Pete) Bode, age 77, passed away on Monday, January 11, 2016. He was born in Llano, Texas on August 16, 1938 to Felix and Altha (Jackson) Bode.
Pete had a lifelong love of reading and spent more than 40 years in the newspaper business. He started his career in the late 1950s at the Breckenridge (Texas) American. After moving to San Antonio in 1971 he went to work for the San Antonio Express-News. He loved working at the newspaper and his retirement made front-page news in the Wednesday, December 29, 1999 edition. The article read, Pete Bode, a 30-year veteran of the Express-News, was both a bridge and an anchor for an entire generation of San Antonio journalists.
His career spanned the greatest era of change the printing industry has ever seen from the fabled days of hot type, hell buckets and melting pigs to today's page-to-negative pagination.
As night composing room foreman he offered firm reminders to any editor who would listen - and he had a way of making them all listen - that the best edited story in the world meant little if it didn't get to press on time.
Bode's ability to successfully wrestle the bull of daily production was attested to by many an editor, including former Editorial Page Director Sterlin Holmesly, who once said, "Pete can get more done with fewer people than anyone I know."
Yet behind the gruff, intimidating demeanor lay a kind-hearted, old-school printer who cared about quality and the people he worked with, but remained unsparingly honest with the truth and strong enough to shoulder the responsibility that went with a tough job. As Pete often put it, "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to put out a newspaper."
Somehow Bode, who retires Jan. 1 achieved both.
While he may have been no nonsense at work, his family and friends knew another side of Pete. Having grown up in the Texas Hill Country as the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, Pete had a love of the outdoors and you could often find him fishing or hunting on his days off. He also loved his country which was reflected by his service in the National Guard. Like many of the Bode clan, he was a great storyteller with his favorite topic being the shenanigans he and his cousins pulled growing up.
Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Felix and Altha Bode; brothers Iven (Buster) Bode and Charles Bode; and sisters Lucille Jester, Imogene Homesley, and Molly Smith.
Pete is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Eileen (Chicka) Bode of San Antonio; daughter, Cheri Hazelton and husband Jeff of San Antonio; daughter, Lisa Carter and husband Steve of Henderson, Nevada; son, Edwin Derrell Bode, Jr. of Dallas, Texas; grandchildren, Miranda and Sarah Hazelton of San Antonio, and David Redfearn of Boone, Iowa; great grandchildren Solomon and Gabriel Redfearn of Boone, Iowa; and sister Margie Bode Phillips of Boerne, Texas; as well as many nieces, nephews, and good friends. The family is hosting a private celebration of Pete's life on Saturday, January 16.