Article content material
Ultimately, three mayors Dale Hodges served with got here to recollect him Saturday — he outlived two others.
The three dwelling former mayors and a fellow councillor recalled the town’s longest-serving councillor as a tireless and meticulous civil servant who will dwell on by means of his achievements.
Article content material
And one thread ran by means of these tributes to Hodges, who served on metropolis council for 30 years and who died Dec. 31 on the age of 82 following a prolonged sickness: limitless saved papers and capers.
Commercial 2
Article content material
“Dale learn every part and Dale saved every part,” former mayor Al Duerr informed mourners gathered at Parkdale United Church.
“We considered it as a multitude of paper, Dale considered it as a treasure.”
However these gathered paperwork, which famously packed his metropolis corridor workplace and overflowed right into a mini van, had been typically Hodges’ ace-in-the gap in getting issues accomplished for the town, recalled his former colleagues.
Former metropolis coun. Bob Hawkesworth mentioned written telephone lists had been instrumental in mobilizing residents in opposition to provincial authorities laws that might have halted efforts to finalize the creation of Nostril Hill Park within the late Eighties.
“The following time you stroll or cycle on Nostril Hill, bear in mind the facility relationships Dale constructed from these slips of paper,” mentioned Hawkesworth, one among dozens of former and present metropolis councillors who attended the service.
Hodges was first elected as alderman for Ward 1 in 1983, starting a 30-year profession that spanned 10 consecutive phrases till well being points led to his retirement in 2013. His tenure at metropolis corridor was the longest within the historical past of Calgary metropolis council.
Midday Information Roundup
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
His service stretches again to the times of Don Hartman and Ralph Klein’s tenures as mayor. Each males have handed on.
Hodges’ dedication to the town and his ward led to the japanese portion of Bowmont Park being named after him in 2019.
“When folks get pleasure from that park without end, they’ll point out his title, which is a becoming tribute to a person who constructed this metropolis,” mentioned former mayor Naheed Nenshi.
As for capers, a favorite phrase of Hodges’ that denoted the goings-on at metropolis corridor, few had been as plugged in and discerning as the previous Ward 1 and Bowness stalwart, he mentioned.
“He didn’t simply know the capers, more often than not he created the capers,” mentioned Nenshi.
“He knew when a problem was proper and when a problem was going to go badly.”
His relentless exhausting work and dedication to serve, mentioned Nenshi, made Hodges the epitome of selflessness.
The long-time councillor’s work contributed to the creation of the Enmax Legacy Parks program and the preservation of Baker Park, The Dougas Fir Tree Sanctuary and Varsity Ravine Park.
Whereas Hodges’ packrat tendencies even led to fears his workplace had turn into a hearth hazard, it was a small value to pay for the great work he achieved, mentioned former mayor Dave Bronconnier.
Commercial 4
Article content material
“He was at all times keen to battle for the little man,” he mentioned.
A little bit-known act of generosity was Hodges’ determination to buy a bus and rent a driver out of his pocket to move Bowness faculty children for a yr within the late Eighties when a secure pathway couldn’t be constructed for them, congregants heard.
“He completely liked his work and liked his metropolis,” mentioned group activist and Hodges confidant JoAnne Atkins.
Although she by no means served with him on council, present Mayor Jyoti Gondek informed the gathering Hodges’ popularity for thoroughness and preservation have endured.
“Dale was a robust advocate for group engagement … he’s a member of our particular household,” mentioned Gondek, who famous his position as a librarian earlier than he entered politics means Hodges served the group for 46 years.
He was additionally remembered as man of many hobbies, together with beekeeping, birdwatching, mountaineering, curling studying concerning the Second World Struggle and was an ardent supporters of arts and tradition.
“He even two items of the Group of Seven,” mentioned Bronconnier, referring to the famend early twentieth century Canadian panorama painters.
Hodges’ tenure at metropolis corridor was not with out edgy drama.
Within the early 2000s, the then-president of the Hells Angels’ native chapter, Ken Szczerba, had plotted to explode Hodges’ residence after the councillor blocked plans for a brand new clubhouse for the bike gang.
Szczerba was jailed for a yr after a trial that noticed Hodges testify in opposition to the gang boss.
Hodges is survived by his spouse of 52 years, Yvonne.
X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn
Article content material