The Parish Church of St George the Martyr, Waterlooville
He ‘metamorphosed’ -
The USA, Australia, Dubai, and Singapore (Catherine’s family), Oman, Penang, Thailand (Phuket -
There were many other home-
A personal view by David’s friend Nigel Hayler:
We first met David in August 1981. Our respective families were disembarking from a British Caledonian trooping flight at Kai Tak airport for a two year posting in Hong Kong. It was August, the humidity was high and the temperature off the clock. I was wondering what I had let my family in for as we surveyed our mountain of baggage but a voice said: “Let me give you a hand with that.” It was David Hodgens, forever after known to us as ‘The Gallant Major’.
We began life in flat E7 Royden Court, Repulse Bay, shortly to be joined in flat A5 by the Hodgens family, who soon acquired ‘Mac Mac’ the cat. One of our favourite pastimes was boating in a glitzy speedboat, Bluebird, shared with another family, the Heals. Somehow David, Sue, Christopher and Catherine were afloat with either or both owners and certainly clocked up more hours water-
Stories of escapades in Hong Kong are legion… and great fun to recall! … Our main community was HQBF in HMS Tamar Central Hong Kong. Holy Trinity Church, within the base, afforded a spiritual and social focus. The Tamar Theatre Club also provided weekly distractions. ‘Am Drams’ … as David liked to refer to our thespian antics! We usually retired, en masse, to the ‘Go-
Catherine became engaged to Will and they married from Edge in 2003. David was immensely proud and happy for his daughter and new son-
Life on the hill at Edge was busy. Chairman of Petersfield Rotary, Treasurer of the Village Hall Committee, and a great supporter of St George’s in Waterlooville. As we all know, health issues overtook him but even so, despite his apparent irascibility, whenever one visited Edge, his instinctive good nature and generosity shone through. Only last May we enjoyed one last ‘wheeze’, a brief holiday in Kent, with a trip to Canterbury Cathedral and a day out on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway. As usual the spirit was willing but the flesh couldn’t keep up!
David, who died at home, leaves us with a wealth of memories. His flamboyant greetings with a warm and ready smile were his hallmark. His generous personality touched many of us. He was devout, sincere and determined.
A very good friend to many. Much loved husband, father and grandfather. David….we miss you.
Autumn Edition 2014
Born in Stafford in 1945, David was eleven when his father sadly died just before David became a pupil at the Royal School, Wolverhampton. In those days, most eighteen-
In the midst of this came Sue, a Nursing Sister -
There followed several postings in Germany -
Back in the UK, with promotion imminent, he joined the UK Rapid Reaction Force in Aldershot, before assuming Command of the Military Port, Antwerp, once more accompanied by Sue. His final appointment was as an SO1 with the Defence Logistic Organisation at Andover, at least allowing him to be near ‘Edge of Beyond’, which became the much loved family home.