Shirley (Pearce) Hodge

Shirley Pearce Hodge, 88, passed away Wednesday, February 5, 2020. She was born April 18, 1931 in Franklin County to the late Willie D. Pearce and Lettie Belle Strickland Pearce. She graduated from Knightdale High School in 1949 and married the love of her life on April 16, 1951. Shirley worked in the classified ads section of the News & Observer for 19 years. She along with her husband, the late Gardner Hodge enjoyed gardening and farming on the land they loved, the Hodge Homeplace, 3137 Hodge Road, Knightdale. 

Funeral service 2:00 pm, Sunday, February 9, 2020 at L. Harold Poole Funeral Service Chapel, 944 Old Knight Road, Knightdale. Burial will follow at Raleigh Memorial Park. 

The family will receive relatives and friends prior to the service from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at the funeral home and other times at the home. 

Surviving: daughter, Joy Hodge; son, Gardner Clay “G.C.” Hodge, Jr. of Bolingbrook, IL; grandchildren: Gina Blackley (Jason), Allen Beach, Joe Vap (Lissy), Rob F. Vap (Mindy); great-grandchildren: Preston and Meredith Blackley, Ella, Eli, Haley and Hunter Vap, Macey and MaKenna Goff. 

In addition to her parents, Shirley was preceded in death by her husband, Gardner Clay Hodge, Sr.; brother, Braxton Pearce, sisters: Willie Gray Boone, Lettie Liles, Carolyn Tharrington. 

The family would like to thank Transitions LifeCare for their devoted and loving care. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607. 

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