Paul Hodgson

Paul L Hodgson, Sr., of Kerrville, TX passed away peacefully of natural causes on June 8, 2020. He was 95. Born a New Year’s Eve baby on the final day of 1924, he grew up in the foothills of Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, the tenth of twelve children. He was waiting to sing on the radio with his high school choir when the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor. While working in the Pennsylvania steelyards, he was drafted into World War II and joined the Navy, where he served as a radio airman and artillery gunner in the Pacific Theater. He survived the bombing of Bunker Hill. While waiting out the remainder of his service in Georgia after the war ended, Paul made two decisions that would change his life: asking a pretty parachute packer named Judy on a date after meeting at a USO dance, and spending his GI Bill on a degree in a brand new technology: television. He married Judy in Atlanta and they moved to Chicago and raised their two sons. He obtained his engineering degree and MBA from Northwestern. His life in Chicago included dinners with the mob (allegedly) and visits to the original Playboy Club (verified). His career gave him some extraordinary experiences, from traveling to Hong Kong to a US Atomic Energy Commission security clearance to advising Congressional committees on quality control. He retired twice and early, traveling the country with his wife and square dancing competitively with a local team. He finally settled in Texas, choosing Kerrville as his home for over 33 years. His friends and family will remember him as an exceedingly kind and gregarious man who hid behind the thin facade of a curmudgeon. He is preceded in death by his wife of over 60 years and his son Patrick. He is survived by his sisters Miriam Bennett and Evelyn Frantz, his son Paul and his wife Lucia, his grandson Sean and his wife Jennifer and great-granddaughter Anna, his granddaughter Amanda, and a devoted team of caregivers: Wanitha Tucker, Dru Williamson, Sandy Boettcher, Judy Beaver, Charlotte Taylor, Jennifer Godwin, Leslie Clark, Nell Person, Kathy Griffin, and Bonnie Stephens and countless neighbors and friends. The details of the celebration of his life will be postponed until his friends and family can safely gather.

Arrangements are under the direction and personal care of the professionals at Kerrville Funeral Home.  (830) 895-5111