Mary Alice Hodgson

Mary Alice Hodgson Bodden lived her life for God, for her children and grandchildren until The Lord called her to his side. Mary was born in Bluefields, Nicaragua to Francis Montgomery Hodgson and Jane Elizabeth Bodden. She had an older sister Irene and one-half sister Clarise on her mother's side. Her parents separated when the kids were young, so her dad raised Mary and her sister Irene. Mary was her daddy’s girl. Her father taught her to play domino, they would play together all the time. Mary loved to play this game very much and she would say with a smile, “my dad taught me”. She attended the Moravian Church and school with the same name. At that time when students graduated from this high school, they also left with a degree. The girls as teachers or secretaries and the boys as teachers or private accountants, but Mary’s father didn’t want his daughters to work outside the home. He had the means to provide both of his daughters with their own house, because he didn’t want his daughters to depend on “any man” to take care of them. Mary would tell that story all the time with pride about her father taking good care of his girls.

Mary loved to dance. She would tell stories about how she would sneak out of the house when her dad was asleep to go to a party. She would tell her kids “I never drank alcohol, never smoked, my thing was dancing”.

Mary’s parents wanted her to be a Nurse and study for this at a prestigious nursing school on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, but Mary had other plans. She had some materials and made herself some dresses. Her friends thought those dresses were quite beautiful. Then and there, Mary decided she wanted to become a seamstress. Her parents were not happy, but they supported her. Mary became very famous. Her eldest daughter Nilda says that Mary created an entire attire for the Chinese embassy employees for a celebration they were having. Mary could sew a bridal gown, vail included and all the bridesmaids' dresses in no time. She sewed many dresses, uniforms, clothes for men, clothes for kids, etc. Mary made fancy clothes for her daughters; the only problem was she dressed her 3 younger girls the same even when they were teenagers. Sometimes people on the street would ask the girls if they belonged to a band.

Mary was blessed with 8 children, Nilda, Ernie, Allan, Karen, Yvonne (RIP), Sandra, Ronald and Victor Jr. 22 grandchildren, 23 great-great grandchildren and 1 great-great-great grandchild.

Other stories about Mary,

-She helped a lot of people in her lifetime. Some of her friends who left Nicaragua to come to the US looking for a better life, had to leave their kids behind. Mary would give those kids a place to live and help them with embassy papers when the time came for them to join their parents in the US.

-She once saw an 8-year-old boy selling fruit on the street, and thought it wasn’t fair, “he should be in school” she said, but it wasn’t her decision, so she would purchase all the fruit from the kid and invite him in to watch cartoons and take a break. This boy is now a grown man. He saw Mary’s son Ronald one day and told him he still remembers Mary for her kindness and will never forget her.

-One afternoon Mary was nowhere to be found when her son Ronald looked across the street and saw Mary coming home with this young lady who had a newborn baby in one arm and a bundle of clothes wrapped in a sheet in the other. It turns out the young lady was trying to go back home but had no money for the bus fare. Since it was late in the evening, Mary got a rollaway bed, gave the young mother food, a place to sleep and the next morning she put the lady’s clothes in a travel bag and gave her money to be on her way.

-Mary would sit with her daughters before bedtime, listening to what they were talking about, teachers, clothes, even boys! She was always giving them good advice, believe in God, be respectful to others, do unto others as you would have others do unto you, she would say all the time. She would always advise her kids to study hard and get a good job, so they didn’t have to depend on anyone.

-She lived in Bluefields, Nicaragua until due to her husband’s work, they moved to the Pacific Coast. After Mary became a widow, her kids bought her a house in the capital city of Managua, where she lived until traveling to the US.

-Mary helped raise some of her grandchildren so her kids could go to work without any worry; she took care of other friends and family’ kids too.

-Don’t think that Mary was a peach all the time, she had her temper. She just didn’t let it show very often. Her grandchildren say she would chase them with a wood spoon when they were bad, she just wasn’t fast enough to catch them. They would laugh about it with her now that they are grownups.

- Mary was a faithful Moravian Church member until she passed. She instilled her faith in her children. Thanks to that steadfast love her children are serving God in spirit and in truth.

-At the end Mary became forgetful. She was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. She couldn’t stay home safely on her own so, she started attending On Lok Adult Day Center. At first, she didn’t want to go but when she found out participants played Domino there, she didn’t mind going. She would come home saying “I beat everybody”. She also loved to listen to Gospel music. We feel, that by keeping her mind busy playing solitaire, doing word puzzles and playing domino every day, this helped her to keep some of her memories, she never forgot her kids or grandkids' names or faces. She would say, “can you believe it” “I’m 98”. Mary was at home, warm in her bed when she left to be with The Lord last December 19, 2022.

-All her children are grateful to God for giving her to them for 98 years and that she kept them closely united in his service. We pray that she is in heaven dancing with her daughter Yvonne, her husband Victor and the rest of the family who went before her.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.oakhillfuneral.com for the Hodgson family.