Joyce Ann Hodges

Joyce Ann Hodges, 77, passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Joyce was born January 24, 1945 on a small farm in Beaufort County, NC to Turfie J. Hodges and Annie Myrtle Hodges. She retired as a secretary and bookkeeper from Alamance Community College.  She was an accomplished poet and even had a poem about the family farm she grew up on published.  Most of all, she was a loving and devoted mother who followed The Golden Rule of doing unto others.  She taught her family that a simple life lived loving others was one that was well-lived. In addition to her parents, Joyce was preceded in death by her brother, Ricky Hodges and brother-in-law, Terry Suggs.

Joyce is survived by her son, William Douglas Harrison; granddaughter, Kaylin Blanchard; great-granddaughter, Emory Blanchard; sisters, Frankie Suggs, Paige McGowan and husband Jack, and Betty Lou Brabble and husband Obie; brother, Joe Hodges and wife Kathy; and former husband and good friend, Doug Harrison.

A private family celebration of life is planned.

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HODGES HAVEN

By Joyce Ann Hodges

Out in the country on a small plot of land

The crow still flies, but the house no longer stands.

Tall cedars watch over my most favorite place in the world

And protects the memories of this old country girl.

I visit there often, if only in my mind

For a glimpse of yesterday as I step back in time.

Out in the country on a small plot of land,

The crow still flies, but the house no longer stands.

Livestock, dogs, cats and sometimes even the farmer’s wife

On most days something was giving life.

Out in the country on a small plot of land

Where the crow still flies and the house no longer stands.

That stately old house erected in 1903,

Was home to the farmer, his wife, five siblings and me.

Hard work and a loving heart was the lesson from this school,

Where an open-door policy was always the rule.

Hot summer days with sprawling oaks for shade

In from the fields at noon-time to see what Mama had made,

She, the best cook in the whole world with a heart of pure gold

Would lay out a spread better’n any restaurant sold.

The farmer while tending his crops and mending all that broke

Still found time for a little fishing and helping the neighbor folks

Could estimate how many seeds per acre and number of raindrops to make it grow,

He, my daddy, was always my hero, I only wish I’d told him so.

The farmer’s wife, oh my, was the rainbow on that small plot of land

Rearing their brood with love, laughter and a tender hand.

Making all hurts better and each crisis much lighter

She, my mama, gave her all to our family making our lives even brighter.

The boys and us girls, each a part of the whole

Unique in our differences, with each resembling the original mold,

All grew up together on a small plot of land

Where the crow still flies and the house no longer stands.

The farmer and his wife each left that small plot of land

And went where Angels fly and the house will forever stand.

In loving memories of my favorite place in the world

Stands Daddy, Mama, Five Siblings and This Old Country Girl.

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Miss Me But Let Me Go

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little…but not too long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that we once shared,

Miss me…but let me go.

For this is a journey that we all must take

And each must go alone.

It’s all a part of the master’s plan

A stop on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart

Go to the friends we know

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds

Miss me…but let me go.