SALSBURY COVE – John D. “Bud” Hodgkins, 91, died June 2, 2010, at Mount Desert Island Hospital. He was born Nov. 1, 1918, in Hulls Cove, the son of John D. and Marcia (Hanscom) Hodgkins. Bud grew up with eight sisters on the family farm in Eden. From his father and grandfather, he learned to make a living from the land. Bud graduated from Bar Harbor High School in 1935. He enjoyed carpentry, hunting and fishing. He married Elizabeth Hinckley Alley in 1940. He served in the U.S. Army from 1941-1945 and earned his Purple Heart in Italy with the 350th Infantry, The Blue Devils. He was honorably discharged as staff sergeant. Bud worked as a journeyman carpenter and kept his union card for 30 years. In 1946, he started lobstering and earned a living from the sea ever since. He skippered his boat, the Jane and the Jane Too, until 1990. Bud got his private pilot’s license in 1965 and enjoyed aviation for the duration of his long life. He used his 1940s-era tail dragger planes, Luscombe and Taylorcrafts, in spotting fish for his commercial fishing operation, Jane Fisheries. His sons, Raymond and Lawrence, were his crew, along with other friends and relatives throughout the years. He was a certified scuba diver in the late ’60s. This was helpful in maintaining his moorings and weirs. Despite the odds, he built, maintained and seined his own weirs at De Gregoire Park, Hulls Cove and Bury’s Cove, as well as purse seining other areas around the island, including Ship Harbor and Somes Sound. Depending on the season, he fished the bays and ocean for tuna, scallops and shrimp. Trawling for halibut was his favorite endeavor. For several summers he took charter groups deep-sea fishing for cod, haddock and other ground fish. He also collected dogfish “sand shark” specimens for Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory for several seasons. In recent years, Bud enjoyed cutting wood and selling it in bundles to campers in order to entertain tourists with salty tales of the ocean and Maine life. Always outspoken, Bud had many interesting tales to tell and he had many fine friends from all walks of life. His favorite song was, “I was the only hell my mother ever raised.” Bud was preceded to the unknown shore by his son, Raymond, in 1990; his wife of 55 years, Elizabeth, in 1994; and his daughter, Jane (Hodgkins) Power Boschert, in 2002. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Lawrence and Cathy Hodgkins of Salsbury Cove; his grandchildren, Stephanie Hodgkins of Bar Harbor, Dallas Hodgkins, merchant mariner; Byron James Hodgkins and great-granddaughter, Eden Francis, and her mother, Holly Masterson, of Town Hill; granddaughter, Kala of Salsbury Cove; grandson, Joshua Hodgkins and great-granddaughter, Charlotte Ray and her mother, Mandy Fountaine, of Salsbury Cove; granddaughters, Betsy (Power) Corrigan and husband, David, and great-grandson, Lee Gideon Corrigan, of Palm City, Fla.; and Beverly (Power) Snieder Darly and common-law husband, Keith, and great-grandsons, Kyle Snieder and Dillon Darly, of Palm City, Fla.; his daughter, Margaret Hodgkins of Grand Canyon, Ariz.; his sister, Evadna Moore of Eden; many fond nieces and nephews all throughout the state and the eastern seaboard. Friends are invited to call 1-2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert, where funeral services will be 2 p.m. Interment will be at Mount View Cemetery, Town Hill. Contributions in Bud’s memory may be made to Eden Baptist Church, care of Mary Rush, 919 State Highway No. 3, Bar Harbor, ME 04609. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com. A man is measured not so much by his words as he is measured by his actions.
JOHN D. ‘BUD’ HODGKINS
