January 2018
A very long-time HOI member is being remembered with thanks and appreciation. Mary Bodell passed away December 27th and will be missed by all who knew her. Mary’s love of having a good time, the outdoors in general and anything related to animals, biology, rocks, or chocolate are thought of fondly. Over the years she brought pumpkin soup in a real pumpkin to the Rock Island Trail soup dinners, provided treats for HOI program nights, notably arrived at meetings and events at a fashionably late hour, and was a good friend to all who met her. Thank you Mary, for your decades of involvement with HOI, your good humor, warm smile, and the many ways in which you helped this group. Mary’s husband, Les Bodell, was a group mainstay who never missed a Rock Island Trail workday and is the only HOI member known to have preferred climbing up and walking on top of the steel frame of the Rock Island Trail Spoon River Bridge rather than using the wooden deck where most people walk.