JJ Hodges

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Many blessings!

life story

We shall not see her like again.

JOANNE JEFFRIES HODGES, better known as JJ, born on July 31, 1930, was the second child of Laura Alder MacEwen and Charles Jeffries Rose. Thus began a life-long competitive effort to catch up to her almost-perfect older sister Betty.

A talented musician with a stunning soprano vocal range, JJ studied at the Peabody Institute, the oldest conservatory in the United States, and now a part of Johns Hopkins University. She appeared in Gilbert and Sullivan shows, performed with Sweet Adelines and was a member of the B&O Women’s Glee Club.

JJ became the family historian, collecting stories and photographs of the illustrious and sometimes scandalously behaved forbearers. In Reisterstown she regaled us with tales of Aunt Fannie who made sugar cookies for her ice cream parlor, and entertained secret gentlemen callers when her older husband was out of town. JJ delighted in pointing out where the lamp would be placed in the ice cream shop window when the coast was clear!

Her own 2014 “The Trip to Bountiful” (similar to the 1985 film of the same name) included many of the memorable locations from her youth in Baltimore to her college years at St. Mary’s Female Seminary, and the romantic years with soon-to-be husband John in Annapolis. She grew up with a bit of a naughty streak (no doubt inherited) and had a special tree on Ridge Road she climbed to spy on the neighbors. Her teen years were a trial for her parents as she had an eye for the boys and they for her. (In the 7th grade she was suspended from school for kissing boys behind the stage curtains). That led to a very restrictive college education at St. Mary’s Female Seminary (emphasis on Female, Future Mothers of Maryland) where boys were only glimpsed in the distance and permitted visits only on the one-day-a week off campus.

JJ’s parents were members of the prestigious Annapolis Roads Club on the Chesapeake Bay and were ardent golfers. Here JJ often saw John Hodges but dismissed him as a suitor as he was only a beach boy and she was more entranced by the lifeguards -- college men! Oh but John was resolute! He’d call on Monday asking for date on Friday or Saturday. A teasing JJ would say she’d get back to him. In a particularly persnickety mood, she would make him call back on Thursday. She waited for a better offer, and if there was one would tell him she was busy. But John did not give up easily, even though JJ said she would not marry him if he was the last man on earth! He persisted by taking her sail boating on the Chesapeake and challenging the novice sailors from the nearby Naval Academy. They "say" they were stranded far away from shore by lack of wind for the sails and that’s why they were so tardy returning from an excursion. Guess time and tide wait for no man as they married on May 10, 1952.

In the 36 years of their married life, they moved 32 times. For 20 of those years John’s military assignments, and later engineering profession, led to separations for weeks at a time. JJ learned to be self-sufficient and handled all the day-to-day challenges. She even warned the children that “a strange man” would be visiting before John returned for the weekend ( It took the kids years to figure out the strange man was John). Together they brought up daughter Randy and sons Jeff and Jim to be responsible, competent, and talented adults.

Following John’s death in 1988, JJ was free to indulge in her Southern Grande Dame tendencies. And after her mother, Laura Rose, died in 1990, JJ became the family matriarch. She wore her new title proudly! Like her mother before her, she imagined herself as an elegant southern lady of years gone by. (More along the lines of a southern Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess of Grantham than Olivia de Havilland’s Melanie Hamilton). There were many complex rules of etiquette and behavior to earn her smile of approval. JJ’s holiday meals were a 5 course elaborate affair. Her table was a visual treat of colorful flowers, inherited (and not stained!) linen tablecloths, delicate china, fragile glassware, much polished silver serving dishes, and sterling silver flatware. Daughter Randy, and nieces Margie and Christiann, would wash and polish all that by hand using lint free soft cloths and hiding their usual grumbling. They consoled each other with the reminder that this affair was only at big holidays. Until the chargers came into the mix! The obsessive use of gold-colored decoratively elegant but massively useless underplates became a source of amusement (with even the sons and husbands who were not washing and drying them in additional to all other dishes). These articles of dinnerware began as drip catchers for the notoriously sloppy Medieval diners. Unfortunately the still messy modern descendants often misplaced the drips in inappropriate spots, leading to the dreaded charger FAIL. The younger family members could not appreciate this dining tradition. Many a loving joke was shared among them about the “infamous chargers”. And later, when they became parents of toddlers, good-natured rumblings continued as JJ’s expectations did not diminish. She believed that well-behaved and properly brought up toddler grandchildren should be able to sit through a formal meal lasting a minimum of two hours!

Despite all the formality of holiday meals, JJ had a sweet soft spot for bringing joy to her family. Her niece Margie (a once struggling single mom) remembers how Christmas was often rescued for her children by Aunt JJ. Just before the big day, a huge package would arrive filled with all kinds of goodies for everyone. In fact, it became tradition for the children to open only one “Aunt JJ” gift prior to Christmas morning. Birthdays were also blessed by JJ’s generosity as there was always, ALWAYS a card for the adults. And for the kids, a thoughtful gift of course. But it didn’t stop there. Siblings of the birthday girl or boy received something too… “just because”.

JJ was also very kind and caring towards her special-needs brother-in-law, David Hodges (who continues to live in a group home in Annapolis, Maryland). She continued to visit him for many years after her husband John died, and would take him dinner and movies which David loves to do. She also always welcomed her nieces, the “Dykstra sisters” as part of her own family and included them on many family outings, vacations, and family events. They were more like adopted daughters to her and they loved her as a second mother.

JJ moved to Sun City Hilton Head, SC where she acted as neighborhood chairperson and helped form the Solos Club. Here she indulged her passion for Bridge and reading as well as being an award winning Avon representative. Some treasured family ceramics began life at her deft artistic hands in the property’s art rooms.

In 2009, JJ’s daughter Randy and niece Christiann conspired to assist her in a move to Atlanta GA. During the move Christiann was helping to back up the car JJ had just left and nearly killed her in a glancing blow from the car door! A shaken, but safe JJ, retreated to be soothed by a frosty glass of medicinal Coca-Cola.

JJ found a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment with a balcony in Atlanta. Hearing a cry for help from the balcony, she called emergency services before realizing she did not know her new address. Again events transpired which led to her move from an occasional soda sipper to a dedicated Coca-Cola imbiber.

Now in Georgia, the home of Coca-Cola, JJ began the true scientific study of this nonalcoholic beverage. She decided that Coke in 8 ounce glass bottles is perfect, but it must be Classic Coke. Sixteen ounce glass bottles or plastic bottles are acceptable as long as it is Classic Coke. Coke chilled in the fridge is not good because the fizz is gone. Coke in 20 ounce plastic bottles is barely drinkable and only in an emergency. Coke in cans should not be considered Coke. A near total meltdown occurred when real Coke was replaced with New Coke! At one point JJ was down to only 1 case of Classic Coke. And life ending threats occurred if one is down to the last case of the real coke. Trust me no one was allowed to touch that coke! All Coke must be served with fresh ice. The subject ice is entirely different. Ice used in coke must be in crystal cubes, not slightly melted and never refrozen. When getting ice from an ice machine in a hotel one must be fully dressed. Wandering the hallways with ice bucket in pajamas is not acceptable. Coke using such ice is undrinkable. If Coke is not available (horrors) one may use unsweetened iced tea with fresh ice and sweetened with Sweet and Low.

Having become an accomplished Atlanta lady, JJ did not expect to be surprised again in life. Imagine her astonishment then on her 80th when her 3 nieces arrived bearing Red Hat Ladies hats and purple dresses and proceeded to kidnap her for a getaway to Jasper GA, where she and John had fond memories. It was a surprise ambush with a friend posing as a Hodges relative. JJ was having nothing to do with this false Hodges and almost sent her away until niece Laurel came to the rescue with a “surprise!” shout and introduction. JJ’s near heart attack had basically been averted and things had calmed down when niece Margie (hailing from Oregon) knocked on the door and called out “I’m here!”. The entire group was joined by Randy, and all proceeded with much laughter and warnings of being an old woman to run sticks along public railings and wear red and purple.

JJ loved dining in fine restaurants with linen tablecloths and tuxedoed waiters. The older and more established the restaurant, the happier JJ was. It helped if the price was a King’s ransom and was paid from another’s privy purse. Dining rules and elaborate etiquette were de rigueur. At a luncheon in one of the oldest historic restaurants in Annapolis, JJ ordered soup as her first of five courses. The waitress arrived with soup and an ordinary teaspoon. She was taken aback by JJ’s response. JJ dangled the errant teaspoon upside-down by the very tip of the handle, as if it were contaminated. JJ set it to swaying in a metronome-type motion. In her best syrupy southern genteel voice, JJ chided, “This, my dear, IS NOT a soup spoon”. Chastised by the “southern charm”, the waitress fled in search of the elusive, but “proper” soup spoon. This contrasted wildly with her contentedly ordering a crab feast at Mike’s famous crab house in Annapolis where she tore off the claws and opened up the crab apron with her bare hands eschewing silverware, polished or not. (For a full immersion graphic experience see the YouTube tutorial on how to eat steamed crab).

JJ is remembered as an activist in her senior centers. She taught MaJong and card game classes, developed library and reading programs, and challenged activity managers to create interesting programs for her fellow residents. She is known for persuading the chef to use Aunt Fannie's recipe and create sugar cookies that the residents could decorate for Christmas. The chef couldn't believe that the recipe made 30 dozen cookies originally, but that JJ had cut it down to a more useful 10 dozen. The residents were decorating for days! Aunt Fannie stored her cookies in pickle barrels, but JJ’s cookie brigade were forced to use more modern Tupperware and cookie jars. Today she would happily have provided instruction on sugar icing painting and guidance on cookie consumption without crumbs.

JJ became a great-grandmother when Harmony Hodges Semak (Jim’s daughter) had a baby boy early Saturday morning Nov. 7, 2021. His name is Carmine Richard Semak and weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz. This reminds us of when Grandmother Laura died back in 1990, Randy had her first child “Jay” Lawrence Maynor the very same day. So a long life well-lived gives way to a promising new life. The “circle of life” continues.

JJ will always be loved and remembered by family and friends, and she will be greatly missed. We shall not see her like again.

Aunt Fannie's Sugar Cookies

This recipe has been in our family for years, but until recently we were sworn to secrecy! You have to go to a health food store to get the secret ingredient – oil of cinnamon. And use caution not to use too much, just a few drops – really!

1⁄2 lb butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2/3 level teaspoons of baking soda dissolved in 1/3 scant cup of milk

4 drops oil of cinnamon (aka Cassia Bark)

Add enough flour to make thick – about 4 cups

Mix ingredients. Chill for several hours to make them easier to roll out. Roll thin for

crispy cookies, or thick for chewy ones.

Decorate with colored sugar, cinnamon-sugar, or sprinkles. Bake at 400 for 8-10

minutes.

Sausage Potatoes

According to JJ's telling, her dad enjoyed them at a diner where these were on the menu. He came home, told her mom how delicious they were and she duplicated the recipe to his delight. And ours!

This was submitted by JJ's son Jim-

Sausage & potatoes 🥔

4 lbs BAKING potatoes

2 lbs sausage. JJ liked Bob evens “hot & zesty”

Salt& pepper to taste

Fully bake potatoes

Brown sausage

Empty potatoes from shell & mix with browned sausage, add salt & pepper to taste. Mix

Re-stuff potato shells

Bake again in casserole dish to keep shells from falling over 35-45 until tops are crispy brown

Serve. Eat all if you like potato skins. My kids loved to add ketchup

My variation. Throw out skins. Take potatoes & sausage mix, add can of French cut green beans to make a more complete meal. Plus casserole makes more crunchy topping ( the best part). I also top with layer of shredded cheese. Melted on top additional 10 minutes after crunchy top is established. Cut in squares. Approximately 12-14 servings

Spaghetti Sauce

Another delicious recipe shared by Jim - Enjoy!

Spaghetti sauce

3 jars store sauce

2 cans whole tomato ( I prefer diced tomatoes 🍅)

2+ lbs 80% lean ground beef

Seasoning: minced garlic, oregano, parsley. & what whatever you like. Maybe a splash of Italian salad dressing. Add 1/2 glass red wine 🍷 to neutralize tomato acids. (That’s not JJs addition. It’s mine). Drink a few glasses of wine while cooking, preferably Chianti. I find crushed red pepper gives a zing. JJs special 2-3 WHOLE peppercorns & a whole bay leaf, which later on became a yucky bite for the unwitting. A friend recently suggested, put bay leaf & peppercorn in a tea cloth, to extract flavor but then remove before serving.

Brown ground beef. - drain grease

The key is to slow simmer sauce, tomatoes 🍅,beef & seasonings. I use a crockpot on low 4 hrs, vs a stove top. 2 hrs on high to bring up temp. Then down to low last two hrs. Stir every 10 minutes or so.

If you have the time. Allow sauce to fully cool, then freeze or reheat. This solidifies the flavor

Make your favorite pasta. For this 2lbs. 14 servings. Freeze extra in paper bowls topped with press & seal plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn. Defrost, microwave ( I use defrost cycle approx 1.5 lb setting, stir than express 1 min 30 sec). to temperature & serve.

memorial service

Celebration of Life - Reisterstown, MD

April 9, 2022

Service time is 11 am Eastern Time at the Reisterstown Welcome Center

202 Main St. (at the corner of Main St. and Cockeysville Rd) in Reisterstown, MD.

It is located around the back of the old Beckley House on 202 Main.

There is parking available. (Note: The front of the house which faces Main St. is the Reister’s Daughter Café).