Looking back at Hodge's mark on Marion

To mark the passing of longtime local businessman Leroy Hodge, we went into the archives and retrieved this article published in THE CRITTENDEN PRESS about two years ago, on February 15, 2024. 

Emil Leroy Hodge, 83, of Marion, died Monday, Feb. 23, 2026 at Livingston Hospital. Services are scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28 at Marion Baptist Church followed by burial in Sugar Grove Cemetery. The family will receive visitors from 6-9 p.m., Friday at Gilbert Funeral Home and from 10 a.m., until service time Satur- day at the church.

From The Press archives | Available at Newspapers.com

It’s hard to imagine Leroy Hodge as an adrenaline junkie.

Most recognize him as somewhat of a stoic, reverent man who has served customers for many years from behind a sporting goods counter.

Yet, in his 20s and 30s, Hodge, now 81, learned to fly a plane, perform waterskiing stunts, race motorcycles and exercise an appetite for adventure as a scuba diver.

He even had an earring – if only for a day – just to prove he could do it.

It didn’t take long for Hodge’s enterprising spirit to develop into a successful business career.

Today, his namesake, Hodge’s Sports & Apparel, is on the eve of its 50th anniversary. It is a Marion landmark, a retail rock that has adapted to a varied clientele across six different decades, offering everything from motorcycles and trampolines to night-crawlers, tuxedos and electronics.

Hodge is Marion’s longest-operating retail business owner.

His career started miles from Marion in pipeline construction, but he returned to his father Charlie Hodge’s Westside Market in the 1960s working as a butcher.

In 1971, married with a young daughter, Hodge and wife Barbara purchased North Court S&T Hardware on East Bellville Street from Imogene and Raymond “Pat” Patmor. It was there that daughter Britt began “playing” store, laying a foundation for her future management of the current retail enterprise on Sturgis Road.

“It was his first leap of faith into business,” his wife recalls, pointing out that despite their desire to get into retail, it was rife with early heartache.

“I soon regretted it,” Hodge admits. “It made him sick – literally made him sick – the financial aspect of it,” Barbara said. “We were newlyweds and poor, we didn’t have any money.”

A few years later, Charlie Hodge sold Westside Market and Leroy Hodge sold North Court S&T Hardware, and the father/son team purchased York Sporting Goods on Sturgis Road and renamed it Hodge Outdoors. They sold motorcycles, bicycles, go-carts, hardware, paint, Franciscan China and wedding gifts. Charlie Hodge, who some may remember by his handle “Shotgun,” parlayed a hobby in CB radios into a Radio Shack franchise that meshed with Hodges’ business model.

On May 1, 1974, Leroy and Charlie Hodge opened Hodge Outdoor Sports. They soon phased out hardware, expanded the sporting goods department, and during the 1980s energy crisis sold wood-heater inserts.

Leroy Hodge later became the sole owner and transitioned into apparel after he found a good deal on Levis jeans from a Madisonville wholesaler. The apparel department grew from there, and today is

stocked with hundreds of pieces of popular ladies clothing, shoes, jewelry and handbags.

An adventuresome nature has mellowed a bit over the years, but Hodge still shows a willingness to step out and incorporate new lines of merchandise. Some of those ventures paid off. Getting into apparel and archery, he says, were among the best business decisions he made.

Besides having products people want, Hodge says loyal customers and employees – along with a little ingenuity – are ingredients for retail success in a small town.

“The Lord has blessed us with great help,” said Barbara, who remains active in the business as a buyer for the women’s boutique. His daughter echoes that sentiment, praising the dedication of hundreds of great employees over the years, particularly Karen Gatten, who has worked at Hodge’s for more than three decades.

“We have sold everything!” Wright said. “We have evolved as we needed to, when we see the need for certain things, like footwear, we did it, and that created satisfaction. That’s how the business grew.”

Still today, Hodge’s inventory is wide ranging. It includes everything from gear for fishing, hunting and archery to men’s clothing, ladies’ boutique clothing and a T-shirt sublimation and monogramming department. At times, the store has sold prom dresses and minnows.

Radiation and chemotherapy to treat tonsil cancer in 2006 forced Hodge to pump the brakes a bit on his workload, but he remains fairly active at the store. His daughter has helped manage it since 1993.

It is not uncommon to see Leroy, Barbara and Britt working together in the store, particularly for seasonal sales events.

Eventually, Hodge says the business will be for sale when all three look toward full retirement.

“It’s tough to think about,” Barbara said. “Everything Leroy has ever done, he did best he could do.”