DR. ROBERT HENRY "BOB" HODGES, SR. was
born at Pon Creek near Lott in Falls County, TX, in
January of 1885, but the family moved to Ranger, TX
in 1891 when he was 5. He was the son of Scott Allen
& William Ross "Sog" Hodges. He had three brothers and
three sisters, Berta Hodges, Irene Hodges, Homer A.
Hodges, Richard Allen Hodges, Lula Hodges, & William
Ross Hodges.
Dr. Bob finished school in Ranger in 1903 and attended
Texas A&M, majoring in Agriculture, and, in 1910, grad-
uated Kansas City Veterinary College with a D.V.S. degree.
In Waco, he practiced veterinary medicine until 1918 with
his younger brother, William Ross Hodges, and in 1918,
they sold the Vet. Clinic there & he returned to Ranger
to administer his father’s estate. William Ross "Sog"
Hodges, born in 1845, probably in Alabama, had died in
Ranger on May 17, 1917. Dr. Bob had married Opie Bristow
of Temple in 1918.
In Ranger, he helped to incorporate the City of Ranger,
served on the Ranger City Commission and after his friends,
M.H. Hagaman and John M. Gholson, he became Ranger’s third
mayor, serving two terms, 1923-1927. He was instrumental
in building the City-County Hospital, helped found the R
anger Chamber of Commerce, and served on that entity as
President and as Director. He taught boys Sunday School
Class and was a role model for area youth. In 1937 he was
ordained as a deacon in the First Baptist Church and later
served several years as Chairman of the Board of Deacons.
He died in Ranger in October of 1961.
The first records of the Hodges ancestry placed them in
South Carolina during the Revolutionary War when Dr. Bob's
great-grandfather, William E. Hodges fought with Morrison's
Raiders. W.E. moved the family to Georgia and then to Alabama.
His son, Homer Hodges, Dr. Bob's grandfather moved his family
to Texas.
William Ross "Sog" Hodges, Dr. Bob's father, besides his
interest in cattle and ranching, was interested in community
affairs and in 1886 he was elected to the Ranger School Board
and served on the board for several years. His heirs donated
the land for the Hodges Oak Park Elementary School which was
built in 1926 and named in his honor. He and his wife, Scott
and all of their children, except Burtie, are buried in the
Evergreen Cemetery in Ranger. Burtie is buried in the Pioneer
Cemetery in Ranger.
WIFE: OPIE BRISTOW HODGES) was born in Temple on June 29,
1891 & graduated from Mary Hardin College with a degree in Education.
She taught school in San Antonio and was a high school principal
before her marriage in 1918. She was instrumental in the founding
of Ranger Junior College and the 1920 Club, a coordinator of the
Adult Education School and helped to organize Student Loan Fund
and Child Welfare in Ranger. She was a member of the W.M.U. and
taught a Sunday School class for many years in the First Baptist
Church of Ranger. They had three children, Robert Henry Hodges,
Jr., and the twins, Ross and Richard "Dickie". Opie died in
Ranger in Dec. of 1955.
SON: ROBERT H. "BOB" HODGES, JR., was born on Dec. 2,
1919 in Ranger to Opie Bristow & Dr. Bob Hodges, Sr. (RHS-1903).
He died, at the age of 29, on Dec. 22, 1948. He had two brothers
who were twins, Richard and Ross Hodges who were in the RHS Class
of 1938. Bob may have attended Ranger High School but his class is
unknown.