Legacy of service leads to Citizen of the Year award for Kim Hodges
By Michael V. Hannigan
Few people have gone through a season of life like the one Kim Hodges has survived. In the past five years, she's lost her brother, fought through cancer, spent time in intensive care for COVID, lost her husband during the pandemic, and survived a cancer relapse scare.
Her faith supported her through those difficult times and she is quick to credit God for her current health.
But there is something else; a relentless drive to help.
"I grew up with a group of people that truly cared about everybody," she said. "My grandparents were sharecroppers. I was raised with a serving and helping mindset. We had a farm and ranch store and I can't tell you how many times we would get a phone call and my dad and I and my brothers would load up and we would go deliver feed to the dairies."
The question, "How can I help?" became part of her character.
"I want to make a difference in life," she said.
Mission accomplished, according to the community.
Citizen of the Year
In January, Mrs. Hodges was named the 2023 Athens Citizen of the Year during the annual Athens Chamber of Commerce Gala. She was truly stunned as she rose to accept the award.
While it bears the name, "Citizen of the Year," the award has often been more for a lifetime of achievement rather than the past 12 months, which is something Mrs. Hodges admitted.
"This was probably the year I did the least for the citizens of Henderson County," she said.
Maybe. But nearly every nonprofit and civic organization in Athens has benefited from her activities at some point.
And then there's the splash pad at Kiwanis Park.
Mrs. Hodges was one of the organizers and main drivers of the 2013 effort, a combined project by the Athens Chamber of Commerce, the Kiwanis Club, the Athens Leadership Institute (ALI, a chamber program), and the City.
The builders said it would take two years from start to finish. Mrs. Hodges said it would be done in nine months.
She was right.
"That was probably the most joyful thing I felt like I've done for the community of Athens," she said. "Everybody still comes there and they unite and they have fun, and that was the intent of it and that came to fruition."
“They just became family"
Mrs. Hodges isn't just remembered in Athens. Her altruism has left its mark on athletes around the world who once called Trinity Valley Community College home.
She and her husband, Lonnie, participated as a host family for those Cardinal and Lady Cardinal athletes who found themselves in the small town of Athens. Some of them came here from another country, with all their belongings in a plastic bag. They didn't understand the culture, but they understood the kindness shown them in the Hodges home.
She and Lonnie went beyond a simple school program, however.
"Finally it ended up where we changed from being a host family to where I became the mom of the boys and girls basketball teams," Mrs. Hodges said.
She's still there for the Cardinals and the Lady Cardinals, in her seat behind the bench. But she admits it isn't the same without Lonnie.
"It's not the same," she said, "but when he passed, we asked that anybody that wanted to make a donation, to make it to the TVCC students because they made us young again. There's nothing like when they graduate and they come up and hug you and there are tears in their eyes and they tell you they're going to miss you and you know that you're going to miss them too."
Her town
Outside of her work as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for First State Bank, she served as a volunteer and officer for many nonprofit organizations over the years, including:
Henderson County United Way
East Texas Crisis Center
Salvation Army
Henderson County Child Welfare Board
Henderson County Rainbow Room
American Cancer Society
Athens Chamber of Commerce, including Athens Leadership Institute
Athens Band Boosters
Athens Public Education Foundation
CASA of Trinity Valley
Henderson County PRCA Rodeo Committee
She has many more accomplishments; too many for this story. It's a list that will keep growing because she believes in service.
And because she loves her town.
When new TVCC President Jason Morrison arrived in town, she told him, "You're going to love Athens."
"I've lived in several communities and I truly can say that and mean it and not even bat an eye," she said. "This is just the best place you know, and yeah, I'm fourth-generation Athenian, but there's something about the spirit here."
A spirit for making a difference.
(Post sponsored by Tinsley Law & Title, Holt Wrecker, R&R lawn specialists, Gibson Pharmacy)