James Robert "Bob" Hodge, Jr., 85, Harrisonville, Missouri, died Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at Wilshire at Lakewood Care Center, Lee's Summit, MO.  Memorial services were held on Saturday, December 22, 2018  at the Atkinson Funeral Home, Harrisonville, MO.   Memorial contributions may be made to the Harrisonville Public School Foundation – Hodge Scholarship.

Bob was born February 22, 1933 in Mercer, MO, a son of James Robert and Pearl Theo (Stockman) Hodge.  He graduated from Princeton High School in 1951.  Bob married Peggy Owen on November 8, 1953 in Princeton, MO.  Bob received a basketball scholarship from Oklahoma A&M, where he attended college for a year before joining the U.S. Navy.  He was a Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict.  He later received his Bachelor's, Master's and Specialist in Education Degrees from the University of Missouri.  Bob worked in public education for 32 years as a teacher, coach and administrator, before retiring in 1993.  He taught in Peculiar, Missouri for two years before moving to Harrisonville.  While at the Harrisonville Public School, Bob taught, served as the head basketball coach (1961-1968), assistant football coach (1961-1968), and was the coach of the first golf team for the school in 1968.  He was a charter member of the Harrisonville Rotary Club, past president of the Harrisonville Lions Club, a member of several state and local teachers' organizations, and a member of Quail Unlimited.  He enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing cards at the Harrisonville Community Center.  Bob and Peggy were members of the Harrisonville United Methodist Church.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Peggy; his son, Rusty; and one sister, Phyllis McVay.  He is survived by two sons, Jeff Hodge and his wife, Treasa, Lumberton TX, and Kurtis Hodge, Lee's Summit, MO; daughter-in-law, Melinda Gettings Hodge (widow of Rusty Hodge), Blue Springs, MO; one sister, Linda Haley and her husband, Mike, Marceline, MO; five grandchildren, Kathryn Messick, Samuel Hodge, Alex Hodge, Anakin Hodge and Bridgette O'Shaughnessy; and two great-grandchildren, Linus and Emmett Messick.