Obituary of Evelyn B. Hodgson

The funeral services for Mrs. Evelyn B. Hodgson will
be held at John Hus Moravian Church
(153 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225)
on Friday, November 12, 2021.
The visitation will be from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
The Celebration of Life Service will begin at 7:00 PM.
Attendees at the Service on Friday, November 12, 2021, will need to register with the John Hus Moravian Church as directed in the COVID 19 protocol instructions below - please contact the Church at the telephone number indicated between 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM to register, and leave a message as necessary.  In addition, the family requests that attendees present proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test taken  within 48 hours of the Service.

JOHN HUS MORAVIAN CHURCH
IN-CHURCH REGISTRATION
COVID-19 SCREENING QUESTIONS

We will be delighted to include your name on the registration list, however, in keeping with the necessary cautionary protocols to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and protect each other it is important that you respond to, these questions. Contact the church’s office at 718-856-2200
1. Have you been in contact with anyone that you are aware of who tested positive for COVID 19 in the last 14 days?
2. Have you visited any foreign countries and was tested upon return to New York or was quarantined? 
3. How are you feeling, are you experiencing any cold or flu-like symptoms?
4. Do you have a fever?
5. Do you have difficulty wearing a mask or face covering?
6. Are you in agreement with the social distancing rules, no contact, or congregating rules?

Interment to take place in Miami, Florida, at 
Caballero Rivero Dade North Cemetery on Friday, November 19, 2021.

May She Rest in Eternal Peace

Obituary

Evelyn Brunilda Bent Hodgson was born in Bluefields, Nicaragua to Helen Howell Bent and Thomas Bent.  Mr. Bent was from neighboring San Andres, Colombia.  Evelyn graduated from the Moravian Junior High School in 1943 and started teaching kindergarten in May of the same year at the Moravian Church’s Old Bank School in Mt. Zion, Bluefields.  After several years she moved “downtown” where she taught first grade.

For 21 years, in addition to teaching first grade, she taught special English to Spanish students in the Second, Third and Fourth grades.  She retired from fulltime teaching in 1964, but continued to substitute teach.

On September 21, 1960, she was united in marriage to Lowell Thomas Hodgson (“Thomas”), also of Bluefields, Nicaragua, who was completing medical studies at university in León, Nicaragua.

A devout Moravian, Evelyn served as the Superintendent for the Primary Department at the Old Bank Chapel Sunday School for many years.  She had a lifelong passion for music and was the first non-missionary to direct the Central Moravian Church Choir, as well as leading the choir in ecumenical events.

In 1974 she immigrated to the United States with her children Deborah Hodgson, Mélida Hodgson, and Harold Hodgson, to join her husband Thomas who was doing a medical residency in Brooklyn, New York.  Five years later, her mother, Helen Bent, joined the family in Brooklyn, and Evelyn officially returned to the workforce, as a securities clerk at the Marine Midland Bank in Manhattan, New York. She retired 16 years later, shortly before she and Thomas moved to “little Nicaragua” (Miami, Florida) in 1996.

“Miss Evelyn” as she was generally known, was beloved by many former students who remembered their first grade teacher fondly.  As a member of the John Hus Moravian Church in Brooklyn, and the Prince of Peace Moravian Church in North Miami, she was a member of the senior choirs, including sometimes directing in concerts, and actively participated in church groups such as the Women’s Fellowship and the King’s Daughters.  Whatever she was involved with, her engaging personality made her many friends.

Evelyn spent much of the last two decades valiantly fighting various medical challenges, including cancer, and a stroke 14 years ago, which left her partially paralyzed.  In 2009, she and Thomas returned to Brooklyn to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Evelyn passed away peacefully at home on November 2, 2021.  In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by her daughter-in-law Karlene Hodgson, and granddaughters Chelsea and Casey Hodgson, and extended family.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to fund scholarships for primary school students at the Colegio Moravo, through the Colegio Moravio Alumni Association: 1) use the “Send Money” feature on your bank’s website using email sabene@att.net (Steve Benedict, president), or by check to Alumni Association Colegio Moravo, 1730 SW 85^th Terrace, Miramar, FL  33025 (Memo “Evelyn Hodgson”).