E. Clifton (Cliff) Hodge, Jr. passed away at his residence in Baton Rouge. The immediate family will gather for a private memorial service at a later date. Born in Oxford, Mississippi to Elbert and Edna Jones Hodge, Cliff attended Forest Hill School (Jackson, MS) through the eighth grade and graduated in 1961 from Shades Valley High School (Birmingham) where he was president of the senior class and lettered in basketball and baseball. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Mississippi where he was selected for membership in Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa Scholarship and Leadership Societies. He was also a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. He served on active duty in the United States Army from 1967 – 1969, and following that he obtained a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School with an emphasis in corporation law. Cliff belonged to the Oxford-University United Methodist Church.
As Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law for eight years (1974 – 1982), Cliff taught courses in corporations and securities regulation. He served as Associate Dean of the Ole Miss Law School, and in 1978 the student body selected him as Most Outstanding Professor of Law.
In addition to his military service and teaching at Ole Miss School of Law, Cliff also engaged in the practice of law in Jackson. With a legal career spanning almost 40 years, Cliff represented clients in business transactions and was involved in litigation related to business disputes throughout the state of Mississippi. A member of and participant in numerous professional organizations, Cliff served as president of the Young Lawyers Section of the Mississippi Bar Association. He also enjoyed times spent with the Pocahontas Trotters, a group of Jackson and vicinity people who meet monthly to share running, dining and the telling of tall tales.
Cliff married his high school sweetheart, Jo Currie Dent, in 1964. He is survived by his wife, and their beloved daughter: Laura Hodge Daigle, son-in-law Jesse Nelson Daigle and two grandchildren, Jolie Nelson Daigle, all of Baton Rouge and Clifton James Daigle of New Orleans. Cliff was preceded in death by his daughter Leslie Evalyn Hodge of New Orleans, parents Elbet and Edna Jones Hodge of Oxford and Jackson, his step-mother Mary Shanks Hodge of Jackson and Birmingham, and grandparents Reuben Carroll (Buddy) Jones and Laura Kisner Jones (Affectionately known as “Annie”) and Clifton Delough Hodge and Cora Ann Hubbard Hodge, all of Oxford and his beloved adopted dog, Daisy.
In Lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that contributions be made to an Animal Rescue Organization. The Hodge family thanks Cliff’s caregivers at St. James Place and Suzie Boudinot of Baton Rouge Hospice for their professionalism and their kind, thoughtful treatment of Cliff as if he were a member of their own families.
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