Nettie Virginia Hodges

Funeral service will be held at 10:00 am, Thursday, July 28, 2022, at the First Baptist Church, Amber, Oklahoma, officiated by Rev. Bryan Haynes. Interment will be at Amber Cemetery under the direction of Sevier Funeral Home.

Nettie Virginia Fleming Hodges was born on August 30, 1932, in Amber, Oklahoma, to Orville Edward Fleming and Daisy May Fleming (Scott). Nettie ran into the arms of Jesus Christ and her husband Pat on Saturday, July 23, with her daughter Rori and daughter-in-law Linda right by her side. Nettie's early childhood was hard, especially after the death of her birth father at the age of nine. A short time later things improved when her mother married Grover Cuthberson , a local land owner for whom she had worked. Grover became father to Nettie and her brothers and was loved and respected until his death in 1964. Even though she wasn't the oldest, as the only girl, Nettie grew up helping her momma take care of her five brothers. She would then spend the rest of her life caring for the people she loved, especially her husband Pat.

Nettie spent all of her school years in Amber, and in those early elementary years she met Pat Hodges, the love of her life. Six months after graduating from high school, they were married on December 2, 1950. In a few months, they would have celebrated their 72nd anniversary. They settled on a dairy farm east of Amber, just up the hill from Pat's family farm. There she learned to pull cotton, milk cows by hand, and work side by side with Pat to build a life. Mother-in-law Gertie, taught Nettie how to cook, and Nettie's family and friends raved about her incredible home-cooking for her entire life. Nettie often joked that people back then assumed she and Pat "had" to get married, and sure enough in 1953, 2 1/2 years later, Rocky Lee was born. A second son, Randy Pat, was born in 1955, followed by Ricky Dean in 1957. The baby of the family, and the only girl, Rori Virginia, completed the family in 1965. Nettie was a "people person" and was hard-pressed to not have a conversation with everyone she met. She was a strong and loyal friend, a hard worker, an incredible wife and mother, and doting grandmother.

She worked several jobs throughout her lifetime, and she excelled at them all. She spent several years at Oklahoma National Bank, Schilling Supply, American Dusting Company, Chickasha Bank and KWCO Radio. Many people around the Chickasha area first got to know Nettie when she worked as a sales and advertising associate with KWCO Radio Station. She worked all over the Grady County area selling air time and advertising to local businesses. She sold the ads, wrote the copy, and cut the spots that were played on the air. She maintained close personal relationships with her clients, and absolutely loved being on the radio and in the spotlight during live remotes and station activities. Her time at the radio station afforded her and Pat the opportunity to meet many country music stars in person, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. As she grew older, she found her way to a little quieter job as the cashier in the business office of USAO. She spent many years there taking care of the students and getting to know each one on a personal basis. Students often remarked that when they approached the counter, she already had them pulled up in the system because she knew every single face that she dealt with. She loved the college kids and formed lasting relationships with her work-study students, who she kept in touch with long after retiring. She retired for good in 2002 and became a stay-at-home wife and grandma, to the delight of her family! Through the years, she and Pat loved to square dance, country western line dance, bowl, and they spent many summers at the Little League ball fields, where Pat coached and Nettie kept score and worked the concession stand. Occasionally over the years, Nettie even took on the role of head coach for games when Pat was out of town. She was always extremely proud, and Pat was more than a little annoyed, that she never lost a game at 6 - 0. Without question, their pride and joy was their incredibly beautiful manicured yard. They spent hours together picking out just the right flowers and shrubs, planting them, and tending to them throughout their retirement years. Their yard was most definitely responsible for keeping them both physically active many years longer than most people of their age.

Like everyone, the years eventually caught up with Nettie and in 2019 she left her family home of 45 years and moved to Grace Living Center. Now known as Cottonwood Creek, Nettie didn't let the change of address diminish her appetite for life. In no time she was friends with everyone and right at home rolling up and down the halls delivering her opinion about anything and everything. She especially loved playing games and just like baseball, she was used to winning. She was even proud of her reputation for cheating at cards, but was also a gracious loser on the rare occasions when it happened.

Nettie was proceeded in death by Pat, her husband of 71 years, her parents, brothers Junior, Pete, Jimmy, Paul, and W.K., and her partner in crime, sister-in-law Reba.

She is survived by her children, Rocky & Vicky of Verden, Randy & Linda of Colorado Springs, Ricky & Tonya of Rush Springs, and Rori & Dallas of Chickasha, ten grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, one great great grandchild, numerous nieces and nephews, and cousins, a multitude of friends and her dog China.