Bob Hodson: He cared for us; indeed, how he loved us

By Bob McEwen
Former Congressman

No one ever personified a town, as Bob Hodson did Hillsboro. None of us dared start our day without listening to his “Community Bulletin Board.” It was one-stop shopping for everything any of us needed to know. Whether it was the weather, school lunch menus, ball practice, deaths and births, civic or church activities of any kind, Bob cheerfully and graciously hosted and disseminated it all.

Our hometown sits under an avalanche of examples of his kindness:  

• Restoration of the Highland County Courthouse;

• Hillsboro's Festival of the Bells annual celebration;

• Establishment of the Hillsboro High School Band Boosters;

• Hosting on-air election night festivities; the list is endless.  

Of the dozens that I could cite personally, let me pick two. I wanted and needed to buy my first car to make it to work at Albers Grocery Store.
 
Bob and Christine Storer were selling their beautiful 1960 Impala for $600. I only had $300. 

Notwithstanding that 16-year-old minors are not legally responsible for contracts, Bob still gave the loan to me. It was a milestone in my life.

Then, while in law school at Ohio State, I took a job that did not withhold income tax. Later, at the time I was planning to ask Liz to marry me, the IRS demanded $1,200. A mountain of money and a show-stopper for my plans.  

I was too embarrassed to discuss with anyone, especially Liz. However, after a fatherly discussion with my banker, Bob Hodson again made it possible for me to clear my name with the government and to ask her to move to Hillsboro to become my wife.

I repeat. Inquire of anyone who has lived in Highland County over this past three quarters of a century and they can give you endless examples of how this good man blessed us all. How he made all of us better. How he cared for us. Indeed, how he loved us.

This leader of the weekly Men’s Community Prayer Breakfast at the Methodist Church, led an exemplary life. Marriages, homes, farms, lives and futures were saved and built because of Bob and Dorothy Hodson.  

This week, Bob outran his dear wife and was the first to hear, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the Joy of the Lord.”

Naturally, we will miss him greatly. But all the rest of our lives will be better because we knew him.

Hillsboro native Bob McEwen was a member of the United States House of Representatives from southern Ohio's Sixth District from 1981-93.