Harvey F. Hodsdon

Harvey Hodsdon, 95, of Shrewsbury MA, passed away gently on January 6, 2022 from complications related to his Parkinson’s disease. Harvey was born on November 20, 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the fourth of five children born to Floyd and Germaine Hodsdon. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the US Navy for the duration of World War II. Following the war, in 1945, he took advantage of the GI Bill and attended Marquette University, graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering. His first job with General Electric took him to Lynn, Massachusetts, where he met Barbara Nash at a dance, introducing himself to her with a smile and one word, “Boo!” What girl could resist? In 1951, the two married in Wrentham MA, moved to Chicago, Ill and proceeded to increase the local population with four boys in five years. Moving to upstate New York, eventually settling in Auburn, three girls were born into the family. Harvey relished his role as a Dad above all, and he managed to balance his hard work at GE with a personal commitment to be home for dinner every night at 6 PM. More than once he would lead the family in discussions on how to be frugal, waste nothing, and be content with hand-me-downs, powdered milk, and government surplus bologna. Harvey loved sports of all kinds, leading the children in backyard football, baseball, and basketball games. He had the family join the Owasco Yacht Club in the early 1960’s, despite not having a paddle, let alone a yacht.  He followed this up by buying annual ski passes for the entire family, loading up the car with second-hand wooden skis for each of us, and heading out to Greek Peak in white-out conditions. Only able to afford one ski lesson per kid, he figured that we would get the hang of it soon enough, and he was right. Harvey’s goal was to pass on his indomitable spirit, competitive juices, and love of nature to all of us. Harvey moved the family to California in 1972, a job offer in hand from International Rectifier. Four years later, it was back to the East to work for Unitrode in Watertown, MA. As his career wound down, he moved his family from Wellesley to Holliston to Westborough, where he stayed until 2010. In his last 10 working years, he followed his dream and bought a bridge club as a retirement project. Selling the business in 2010, he and Barbara moved into the Southgate Retirement Community in Shrewsbury.  He was known there for his exuberance for bridge, later Hangman, and any activity that involved music and singing. His beloved Barbara preceded him in death on October 10, 2014. Harvey leaves behind two sisters, Yvonne and Anita, six children (Michael, Peter, Philip, Patty, Julie, and Jill), 16 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. His son, Stephen, was taken by cancer in 2001. Harvey was a life-long Catholic, quiet and sincere in his faith, and loved to sing in the choir. He passed away to the strains of Ave Maria. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Westborough, Massachusetts on Saturday January 22, 2022 at 11am. A livestream link to the service may be obtained by contacting the family. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to St. Lukes’s Parish Outreach.