AMHERST, NH -- Mrs. Susan E. (Spofford) Hodges, age 69, a well known former resident of Tewksbury, died peacefully, in the comforting support of her family, on Wednesday morning February 8, at the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH, the result of a brief illness. She was the beloved wife of Gary Hodges, with whom she had recently celebrated a forty-seventh wedding anniversary this past December.

Sue was born in Salem, MA in November 1947, a daughter of the late Roland and Helen (Gamble) Spofford, and was raised in Marblehead, where she developed her love of the beach. She graduated from Marblehead High School with the Class of 1965, then attended Northern Essex Community College. She had lived on Marston Street in Tewksbury the greater part of her life, and had retired to Amherst last June.

While taking great pride raising her four daughters, Sue worked as a buyer in the Purchasing Department of Tewksbury Hospital, retiring after more than twenty years of service.

Sue enjoyed sewing matching dresses for her daughters to wear every Easter, along with hand knitted mittens and hats every winter, then later becoming an avid quilt maker. Sue was an animal lover, always holding a soft spot in her heart for their care. She also had quite the green thumb as evidenced by her beautiful flower beds that would bloom every spring. Sue was an active member of the Lawrence Street Primitive Methodist Church in Lowell. She also belonged to several craft groups including her church quilting group and the Tewksbury Piecemakers.

Besides her husband, she leaves her daughters and sons-in-law, Melissa McCutcheon and her husband Lance of Grantham, NH, Candace James and her husband G. Ronald of Matthews, NC, Kristin Blenman and her husband Orman of Amherst, NY, and Hilary Brooks and her husband Jason of Dracut; her sister, Martha Millard of Torrington, CT; many grandchildren; and was predeceased by her beloved in-laws, Clarence and Narcissa Hodges.

Burial in Tewksbury Cemetery.

Published in Lowell Sun on Feb. 15, 2017