Notes for: Robert ("Bob") James Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
Obituary, The San Diego Union-Tribune (San Diego, Calif.) of 12 Nov 2003.
Gladys Bodine, 69 her Salvation Army career focused on aiding addicts. Gladys Bodine followed her parents -- and her heart -- into an administrative career with The Salvation Army. The daughter of Salvation Army professionals in her native Belvedere, Ill., Mrs. Bodine focused on the charity's substance-abuse rehabilitation programs as she progressed through the ranks. In 1980, while based at West Coast headquarters in Long Beach, she helped establish one of the agency's first professionally staffed programs for female addicts in San Diego. Seven years later, she joined her husband, Bob, in managing what became The Salvation Army's largest alcohol and drug rehabilitation program in the country: the Adult Rehabilitation Center in San Diego. Mrs. Bodine, whose melanoma cancer was diagnosed nearly four years ago, died Oct. 26 at her home in Chula Vista. She was 69. After eight years with the San Diego ARC, Mrs. Bodine became territorial director of rehabilitation for the Salvation Army's Central Territory ARC command. Based in Chicago, she had jurisdiction over 11 Midwestern states and developed guidelines for treatment staffs and officers and set standards for hiring. Mrs. Bodine, who retired as a Salvation Army lieutenant colonel in September 2000, began working for the organization in 1960. Inspired by her parents' 40-year Salvation Army careers, she decided on a career in social work. She studied sociology in college -- first at Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan., where she earned an associate of arts degree, and later at Seattle Pacific University, where she earned a bachelor's degree. She was class valedictorian at both schools, just as she had been at Hutchinson High School in Kansas in 1952. She took piano lessons as a child at the urging of her parents. But, blessed with an engaging soprano voice, she preferred singing. "Her parents relented and began providing private voice lessons," her husband said. "She was offered a scholarship to Juilliard but turned it down because of the expenses involved." At Seattle Pacific University, Mrs. Bodine showcased her talent as a soloist in an a capella choir. In 1990, she sang the national anthem at a San Diego Padres game at Qualcomm Stadium. While singing remained a big part of her life -- as a soloist in church choirs and at Salvation Army functions -- it couldn't overshadow her commitment to help people. "She was an optimist, nonjudgmental," her husband said. "And she loved people. She considered her work with The Salvation Army the happiest time of her life." Her first Salvation Army assignment was as a corps officer in Laramie, Wyo., a duty she shared with her husband. In 1971, she began focusing on rehabilitation at the ARC in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Bodines left The Salvation Army in 1973 to pursue educational opportunities in social work at the University of Southern California. While her husband earned a doctorate, Mrs. Bodine added a master's in social work. With her newly obtained degree, she worked five years for a private mental health agency in Whittier. "In our hearts, we felt we should return to The Salvation Army," her husband said. "We felt it was what God wanted." Based at The Salvation Army's Long Beach office, Mrs. Bodine returned to her specialty in alcohol and drug rehabilitation and focused on the women's program in San Diego. A year later, in 1981, she and her husband were assigned to Fresno, where she directed a rehabilitation program and developed a medical clinic until being assigned to San Diego. The San Diego assignment was among her most challenging. She and her husband expanded the rehabilitation program from three months to six months and directed more than 200 staff employees. Integrating work therapy, psychological counseling, spiritual counseling and vocational guidance, the six-month program in San Diego became a Salvation Army model. In May 2002, Mrs. Bodine and her husband were inducted into Central Christian College's Academe of Achievers for their community service. It marked the first time in 118 years that the college conferred such an honor -- the equivalent of an honorary doctorate -- to Salvation Army officers. Survivors include her husband of 46 years, Robert J. Bodine; sons, Gregory Bodine of Prescott Valley, Ariz., and Jeffrey Bodine of Pleasant Hope, Mo.; brother, David Baker of Springfield, Mo.; and 10 grandchildren. A celebration of life was held Nov. 2 at The Salvation Army San Diego Citadel in Clairemont. Donations are suggested to The Salvation Army, Adult Rehabilitation Center, 1335 Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101.
Burials in El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego County, California.
In Memory of ROBERT JAMES BODINE September 13, 1935---January 4, 2018
*****End of latest notes from Ronny Bodine*****
Note: Robert Bodine was a resident of Bolivar, Missouri at the time of his death. It appears he died visiting in California as a San Diego funeral home announced his death.