Jeannine Maria Hodgan

With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Jeannine Hodgan on April 2, 2026, at the age of 92.

There are people in this world who make every room warmer simply by being in it. My mother — our MIM — was one of those rare souls.

For as long as I can remember, MIM’s home on the same beloved street she had lived on since 1984 was less a house and more a sanctuary. You did not knock on that door and wait to be welcomed you, you were simply in, wrapped in warmth before your coat was even off. She did not need to travel the world to find what mattered. Everything she needed, she used to say, was right in front of her. And somehow, being in her presence, you felt that way too.

Every morning began the same way — MIM in her comfy chair, rosary in hand, beginning her day in prayer. Her faith was not something she wore on special occasions. It was her compass, her foundation, her quiet and constant conversation with God and with the Blessed Mother Mary. You could feel it in how she treated people. Every single one of them.

She was sharp as a tack until the very end — the keeper of everyone’s birthdays, phone numbers, and stories, what she lovingly called being a Big Book. Her friends were not just in her heart, they were written out on cards in that beautiful handwriting of hers, a list longer than most people half her age could claim.

She loved her good friend Clyde, puzzles spread out between them. She loved her “adopted grandkids” coming through the door, never leaving without a rice crispy square and a proper hug. Food was love for MIM — a full Christmas dinner, largely made by her own two hands at ninety-two years old, is a story none of us will ever stop telling.

She loved curling. She loved hockey. She could hold her own in any sports conversation and surprise you every time with just how much she knew. She loved vet shows, her little slippers on, tights pulled up, zip-up polar fleece zipped just so, perfectly content in her own quiet company. And yet she also lit up every room, every gathering, every group lucky enough to have her in it.

Some of my most treasured memories are of those nightly phone calls — our ritual of reviewing the day together, every single evening, closing with her gentle voice saying “Sleep with angels.” I always will, Mum. Because of you, I always will.

And the Moon Alerts. Oh, the Moon Alerts. A particularly bright full moon was never just a moon — it was a gift she could not keep to herself. The phone would ring, and you knew before you answered: go outside, look up. She found wonder in the world and refused to let you miss it.

She carried grief with extraordinary grace. The losses of her beloved Bill and her dear Barry were carried not as weight that broke her, but as loves she held close while still pressing forward — taking on new challenges, staying curious, staying present, staying herself. That took a strength most of us will spend our whole lives reaching for.

In her later years, when she finally let us convince her to have that cataract surgery — thank you Polly for your help — she was genuinely astonished at how clearly, she could see. But the truth is, MIM always saw clearly. She saw the goodness in people. She saw what mattered and what did not. She saw a beautiful moon on an ordinary Tuesday night and knew it was worth a phone call.

She was the last of her siblings. The end of a remarkable generation. And now she has gone to join them, and Bill, and Barry — a reunion I can only imagine with joy.

May MIM’s spirit be in all of us now.

May we welcome people the way she did, love deeply the way she did, find wonder the way she did, and sleep — always — with angels.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated at  Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Friday, May 8, 2026, at 11:00 am. Following the funeral Mass, Friends and relatives are invited to meet in the Jubilee Hall.

Eternal rest grant unto your servant Jeannine, O Lord, and let eternal light Shine upon her.

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