Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Jay MacDonald Hodges III (“Mac” or “Bear”) died at the age of 69 on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.

The service will be held at the Festival Park on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, at 10 a.m. The family requests for those who attend to practice social distancing and to wear masks.

Mac Hodges never met a stranger. Good-natured and funny, he loved being with people, and people loved being with him. Mac possessed that generous ability of making everyone he interacted with feel important. He sought the fun in life while equally valuing service and community.

Mac Hodges was born Sept. 23, 1950, to Jay McDonald Hodges Jr. and Ruth Gay Hodges in Washington. He attended Washington High School and Fishburne Military School. He also graduated from East Carolina University.

Mac received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the State of North Carolina, recognizing his service to his community and state. Mac worked as a real estate agent and appraiser, but his true passions were East Carolina Athletics and the City of Washington. Under Mac’s leadership as Beaufort County ECU Pirate Club President, the chapter earned numerous awards. His blood ran purple for ECU football and baseball, but he spent his free time watching or attending almost any ECU athletic event.

Since 2013, Mac served as the mayor of Washington and felt a great sense of pride in helping the city develop into a tourist destination. His active role within the Washington Jaycees, Washington (noon) Rotary, Downtown Harbor District and numerous other committees helped Washington become a better place.

Mac is survived by his wife, Linda “Lou” Berry Hodges, of Washington; his daughters, Elizabeth Hodges Fickling and husband Wade Fickling, of Morehead City, and Sara Hodges Bell and her husband Tre Bell, of Washington; and his four grandchildren, Gray and Thomas Fickling, Ruth and John Bell; his sister, Anne Hodges Morrisette and husband Clay, of Kitty Hawk; and his brother, Arch Hodges and wife Corinne, of Brunswick, Maryland.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to East Carolina University Pirate Club, 304 Ward Sports Medicine Building, Greenville, NC 27858.

The services will be provided by Paul Funeral Home.