Frank Hodel

1945 - 2017

May 29, 1945- June 26, 2017

Frank was born to Frank and Anna Hodel on May 29, 1945 in Escalon, CA. Within the next year, his sister Ann Marie was born, and his father passed away. In 1949, Anna married Martin Betschart and together they had three children, Martin, Martha and Malcolm. Frank grew up on the Betschart Dairy in Dixon where he learned about hard work and the love of family.

Frank graduated from Dixon High in 1964 and is remembered by his classmates and friends as handsome, as a gentleman, and as a "cool fellow who was able to work on cars like it was nobody's business". After graduation he joined the United States Air Force and proudly served his nation in Vietnam, the Philippines and China. In 1968, after leaving the service, he moved to Fairfield and began working for the Solano County Sheriff's Department and the Marshall's Office. He returned to Dixon in 1978 and was a small business owner until he began work for the Teamsters Union #490; later he worked as a driver for the Insured and Hadley Transportation. Frank retired in 2005.

After his retirement Frank was regularly seen having lunch and sharing stories with his close circle of friends at the Dixon Moose Lodge 1120. Occasionally he ventured out to other Dixon locales to visit with longtime buddies and he cherished the bonds he formed with his close-knit group. Frank often said that he didn't need to travel because he'd "seen it all on TV". The truth was, Frank didn't need to travel because he felt happy, loved and cared for surrounded by close friends and family in his own hometown.

As most will recall, Frank's favorite spot at home was his garage. You could always find him working on a car or on his super modified sprint car. The sprint car was driven by his cousin, Carl, and the sprint car races are some of his families favorite memories.

Though Frank had many accomplishments in life, he was the most proud of his children and grandchildren. He was never afraid of telling anyone who would listen about all of them. Frank is survived by his son, Frank (Wendy) Hodel of North Carolina, Kimberly (Aaron) McAlister of Fairfield, and Kevin (Kelly) Hodel of Dixon. He will be dearly missed by his siblings, Ann Marie (Tom) Fisher of Vacaville, Martha (Ron) Morris of Elk Grove and Malcolm (Sandy) Betschart of Dixon. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, Taylor, Zachary, and Brooke Hodel, Brett Braun, Karli and Katie Jacobs, Max McAlister, Helen and Henry Hodel.

Frank was preceded in death by his fathers, Frank Hodel, Martin Betschart; his mother, Anna Betschart; brother, Martin Betschart and his two best buddies, Don Beck and Steve Hoffmann. Frank is also survived by many close friends including Lynn Thompson, Tammy Hammond and his Downtown Dixon lunch buddies. A special thanks to the Dixon Moose Lodge 1120 for all of your love and support during this difficult time.

Graveside services will be held at the Silveyville Cemetery at 11 a.m., on July 5, with a reception immediately following at the Dixon Moose Lodge 1120.