Gilbert (Dick) Lyman Hodge Jr.

HEYBURN – Dick Hodge passed away peacefully at home on July 15, 2022, surrounded by his family, following a short illness.

Dick was born in Burley, Idaho, on June 6, 1937, the oldest of six children to Gilbert Lyman Hodge Sr. and Alva Elsie Enoch Hodge. In his youth, he developed a lifelong passion for the outdoors, spending all of his free time fishing and especially hunting. In his teenage years, Dick and his friends would travel hundreds of miles for weekend fishing trips, picking up aluminum cans on the way home to pay for gas. Throughout his life, Dick’s best memories were comprised of hundreds of happy days chasing a big buck or elk.

Having just turned seventeen, Dick joined the United States Air Force and served as a jet mechanic at Ellis Air Force Base during the Korean War, later telling his family of the shenanigans of aviation in the 1950s. After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, Dick attended Ricks College where he studied business.

Dick was set up on a blind date by his father who had met a lovely young co-worker at Simplot Foods that Dick senior thought his son would simply adore. Lucky for all of us, he was right. Dick married Gloria Jean Brackenbury on August 25, 1962. Their nearly sixty-year union would produce three children: Mitchell (Shari), Morgan, and Gina; six grandchildren: Gabe; Toni, Gydon, Tasia; and Cooper and Finnley; and six great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Philip Hodge; and one sister, June Bill.

Dick’s impact on the world and the people he encountered was far reaching and he will not soon be forgotten. In his thirty-plus years at Ore-Ida Foods, Dick worked as Maintenance Engineer and Manager of Technical Services, managing hundreds of employees and bringing numerous innovations to the world of potato processing. During his time at Ore-Ida, Dick won national awards and traveled the world to work on food processing equipment. After his retirement, Dick turned down multiple job offers from consulting jobs to an offer to help start a potato processing plant in South Africa. Instead, Dick never slowed down on his own pursuits and passions. His lifelong interests were varied, from dabbling in a farming operation, to collecting and selling rare books and artifacts, to playing the stock market, to owning and operating a gym and competing in a bodybuilding competition in his 50s. But his main passion was owning a rental operation which was comprised of nearly a hundred units at its peak. With a brilliant mind for business and expert skills as a craftsman, electrician, and plumber, Dick did all the work on his rentals himself. A big softy, Gloria did have to ban him from rent collection after he would hear any excuse and let renters stay without paying. Always full of compassion, his gruff exterior was balanced by a big heart and for years he would deliver gifts to many renters to ensure their children had a Merry Christmas.

Dick was the foundation of his family, with the care and comfort of his loved ones always his first priority in life. He extolled advice and counsel as the wise sage and family patriarch to his dozens of nieces and nephews as beloved Uncle Dick. To his wife and children, he was deeply loved and cherished. To those he encountered, he was a man who would drop everything to help out someone in need.

Dick’s eighty-five years were full of love and adventure and the impact he made on the people he encountered was profound. After a lifetime of service, we know he will still be watching over us while he continues to chase the big bucks in the sky.

A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 20, at Pleasant View Cemetery, 1645 E. 16th St., in Burley. Military rites will be presented by the Mini-Cassia Veterans Group.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home of Burley.