NORTH SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – William D. Hodgson Sr., 80, died Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at Cedar Hill Nursing Home in Windsor, Vt.
William was born on Dec. 7, 1944, in Taunton, Mass., the son of George and Lillian (Wilkinson) Hodgson. He grew up in Taunton and attended Taunton Public Schools. In 1961, he joined the Navy. A Vietnam veteran, William was a cook, and was stationed throughout the United States and traveled the world for 23 years, until retiring in 1984 as a chief in the Submarine Service of the U.S. Navy. He was married to Shirley Gouveia in 1967, in Taunton, Mass., where they started a family together. They would later divorce, and he would make his home in Hubbardton, Vt., where his son and daughter have many fond memories of summers spent together. He later moved to West Rutland, and then Ludlow, where he met his future wife, Mary Michalke, at the Ludlow school where he worked in the kitchen, and she taught. They married in 2003, and made their home in North Springfield, where they lived together until Mary’s death in 2013.
William was a former member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He loved to go fishing with his family and friends, always searching for that perfect bass. He would make regular trips to Lake Champlain with his good friend John Montgomery.
William is preceded in death by his two brothers George Hodgson Jr. and Ralph Hodgson; and three sisters Carol Clark, Virginia Farrah, and Marjorie Baertschi. He is survived by a son William D. “Bill” Hodgson Jr. and his wife Anielia of Taunton, Mass.; a daughter Victoria Warner and her husband Wade of Uxbridge, Mass.; a stepson Mike Michalke and his wife Jennifer of Ludlow, Vt.; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his sisters Marilyn Travers of Dennis, Mass., and Ruth Beauvais of Taunton, Mass.; along with loving friend Carol Hastings of Vermont.
A memorial service with military honors will be held Friday, Sept. 13, at 3 p.m., at the Knight Funeral Home in Windsor, Vt. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Condolences may be expressed in an online guestbook at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy can be made in William’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Association, act.alz.org.