A well-respected, loved and long-time resident of Erie County has passed away, after a long and prosperous life from a chronic case of old age. Thomas A. Hodge aka Tom, Tommy and to people closest to him, Tink, Tinker, Pops & Pap. Tom was 84, eight days short of his 85th birthday celebration. He was a beyond devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. Tom was proceeded in death by the love of his and all our lives, his wife Barbara L “Vaughn” Hodge in 2016. Tom began life on March 27, 1938, in Scotch Plains NJ, the son of C. Arthur & Ina “Bird” Hodge.

In 1939, “During WW2” Tom’s parents moved from Scotch Plains to Roselle. This move became necessary when Tom’s dad was not issued enough gas ration coupons to get to work in Roselle where he was a teacher. At this time, Art had many farm animals, including cows and had to board them at a neighbor's farm until he could find one of his own. In 1944, Art & Ina purchased a farm in North Branch NJ on Milltown Rd. They packed up Tom and his sisters Ina & Nancy and made the move to what became their working dairy farm. All the while, Art & Ina also continued to teach school as well as run the farm.

Tom, from his earliest years knew hard work and took care of barn chores every day before going to school. Years later, one of his many jobs was to load the 6 cans of milk the farm produced daily, onto the farm’s 1942 Chevy Pickup and take them to the Raritan Valley Creamery before going to school.

Through his school years, Tom’s interests lay with anything mechanical, this earned him his nickname “Tinker”. He truly was born with the Knack. As a teenager, Tom’s church enlisted him to climb to the top of the steeple and replace the bell clapper. With only a few tools and no safety harness, he climbed up & got the old bell ringing again. One of his proudest accomplishments as a teenager was restoring a 1939 Mercury coup convertible for himself to drive. He loved that car and carried a photo of it in his wallet his entire life. He once told me the only way he was able to graduate was by fixing cars for teachers.

Tom began his working life outside of the farm as a laborer for a builder, while also answering fire calls as a volunteer with the North Branch Fire department, which he joined at age 16. He then moved onto be a mechanic at Dully Bros Chevrolet. Next, a Hess gas station owned by his future wife's uncle who introduced him to the world of Semi trucks. Uncle Don saw his potential and got Tom a job as a mechanic for Apgar Brothers Trucking in Bound Brook Nj. He would then spend nearly all of his working career with Apgar’s, first fixing and then driving semi-trucks for them.

One day after hitching a ride with an Apgar driver, Bob Erps arrived into Tom’s life, which started a lifelong friendship with he, his wife Judy and their daughter Nancy. Bob needed a job, so Apgar's had Tom teach Bob how to mount Semi tires onto rims. Later, both Tom & Bob would graduate onto driving big rigs for Apgar's. Dad bought his first rig with his mechanics wages, a 1959 B61 Mack for $3,000. He logged over half a million accident-free miles in that truck alone, not to mention the many others throughout his career.

Tom & Barbara married Sept 6, 1959 and started a family with their first-born in 1961. They ultimately would have four sons. In 1964 Tom began building a new house for his growing family, with his friend Freddy Wycoff next to his parent's farm on Milltown Rd.

Around 1974 Apgar's was growing and opened a new office in Erie Pa, hauling GAF roofing products. The Company asked Tom if he was interested in a move, he jumped at the opportunity to get away from NJ traffic and driving trucks into the likes of NY City. Tom, Barb and the 4 boys spent their first summer in the Erie area, living out of their camper at the KOA in McKean. Great memories for their children were created there. Cucumber and mayo on white, the crust saved to squeeze on a hook to catch sunfish in the KOA’s pond. Many, many days tying life vests to driftwood logs to ride in Lake Erie while at Presque Isle. Mom would pack up the tribe, haul us to the park for the day, where Dad would meet us for a grilled-out dinners in the evening. Tom & Barb began searching for a new home that summer and ultimately ended up buying a house on Hershey Rd in McKean.

Tom along with Bob Erps & other family members helping, loaded up a Apgar's 40’ Box trailer with their Milltown Rd belongings. Bob drove the big rig to their new home in Mckean while the rest followed along in the families 1970 Chevy Pickup along with Grandma Bea and carload of kids in the LTD station wagon. As a child I was enchanted by Uncle Bob’s ability to shift those 13 gears, all the while hitting his spittoon with his Red Man chaw. Tom & Barb would spend the rest of their kid's school years on Hershey Rd.

Tom drove a truck 6 days a week and on the 7th day would take care of PM on the trucks he owned and all the while raising kids. Being the family man that he was, he almost never spent a night away from home, though he would come home late and get up early and do it all over again. Us kids saw little of him on weekdays, working hard so mom could stay home and care of us all.

In 1984, Tom and Barb were searching for more open spaces and moved to Fry Rd in McKean and next to the C-Far farm. It didn’t take long for Tom to be over at the farm. He and Barb quickly became best of friends with Chuck & Diane Farley and remained that way for the rest of their lives. Dad loved being next to their farm and would help out whenever he could. He would haul gravity wagons and hay to lend a hand at times, while my mom would send over a pot of soup during the Farley’s harvest times.

As the years went by and Tom & Barb’s now adult children began moving out and having families of their own, so did their desire to be closer to new grandchildren. Around 1990, they packed up again and bought a home on Mt Pleasant Road in Edinboro , where they would spend the rest of their lives.

Many people fill their lives outside of work with hobbies and such, not Tom. He spent his entire free time taking care of his family and doing things for others. Tom was generous with his family to a fault.

He truly was a Jack of all trades and could repair pretty much anything. Never was there a time that a repair man came to the house, or a car brought to a mechanic. Tom’s winters were spent volunteering at Mt Pleasant Ski Area and taking care of ski passes for all his grandchildren. He spent many a winter’s day there repairing anything that would break, from ski lifts to groomers and snowmobiles. Now his great grandchildren Jameson & Bentley are there enjoying the Slopes that Tom helped keep alive. His buddy Doug now owns & continues to create and build an amazing place for all children to enjoy. Thank you Doug.

Nearing retirement, Apgar’s closed their Erie operations, which left Tom late in life having to find a new job. He bounced around a few trucking jobs, but ultimately found his new calling as a crane operator for Alex roofing company in Erie. He loved Pete & that job and anytime we would drive past a roof he’d been on, he’d say “Hey” I lifted all the materials onto that roof top with my crane.

Once Tom finally fully retired, he & Barb spent many wonderful winters as snowbirds in Gulf Shores AL, close to their son Robert. While at home in Edinboro, Tom was the greatest go-fer guy around. If grandkids needed dropped off or picked up anywhere, he and Barb were there. If material needed to be picked up for a son’s projects, or a 5gal jug of gas, Tom was there. One thing that never left him throughout his life was his dependability and willingness to help any one of them. He never was a man to spout expressions of love and caring, he did not need to. He showed it every day of his life.

He is survived by his sister, Nancy Weinberg (Jerry) of St James City FL, “His In-Law Family” David Vaughn (Shelly) and Elizzabeth Vaughn of Somerville NJ. Four Sons, Thomas V. Hodge of Mill Village PA, Robert Hodge (Jennifer) of Centreville AL, Chris Hodge (Tammy) of Edinboro and David Hodge (Kim) of CO. Six Grandchildren, Jason Coon of Pittsburgh, Christine Renick (Kyle) of Edinboro, Kati Miller (Chad) of Edinboro, Jessica Jones of Centreville AL, Clinton Hodge of Edinboro and Maddison Hodge of CO, also 6 Great Grandchildren, Jameson, Bentley, Finley, Bea, Daisy & Dallas. Close friends Chuck & Diane Farley of McKean and lifelong friends Robert & Judy Erps of Bedford VA, Tom Duska of Erie as well as many others.

At the end of Tom’s life, a village worked tirelessly to prevent his last years from being in assisted living or his last days from being in a nursing home. The Village included his granddaughters Christine, Kati & their spouses Kyle & Chad as well as his daughter in-law Tammy & his son Chris, Care Aids Jane & June to name just a few. Chris would cook his breakfast every day for years, while Tammy would be packing his lunch, then drop both off to him every morning on her way to work, making sure he took his medicines. Every evening on the way home Tammy would pick him up, where she & Chris worked together on dinner for him. Then later, drive him back home. Kyle the ever-vigilant, fetch it guy & pill sorter, Christine the caring, everything, everywhere she could person. Kati & Chad kept a close eye on his daily needs in between the rest, while living with him.  Both Christine & Kati made certain his last years were full. They would take their grandpa along to nearly every activity,  from the Zoo to roller skating. This village is proof to the reaping of what you sow. Tom earned every second of the care he got.

A private Funeral Service will be held at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Cambridge Springs Sunday May 28 where he will be laid to rest next to his wife Barbara. That same day, following his services there will be a public celebration of Tom’s life at his home “14300 Mt Pleasant Road” starting at 5:00 pm till? (Please consider this your invite to help celebrate Tom’s life)

Please go to “case sensitive” web address:  

bit.ly/ThomasHodgePhotos 

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