Notes for: Earl Nelson Bodine
From Ronny Bodine:
From The Grand Prairie Texan (Grand Prairie, Texas) of Friday, 24 Aug 1934.
Earl Bodine, son of Mr. and Mrs. I. Bodine of the Florence Hill Community and Miss Maxine Poulter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Poulter of Weatherford were married at the home of the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Weatherford on 18 August.
Obituary, the Fort Worth "Star-Telegram" of 13 Sept 1998.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Earl Nelson Bodine, 90, a former resident of Grand Prairie and former high school principal, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1998, near Rochester, Minn., after a lengthy illness. Memorial service: 2 p.m. Friday at The First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. Memorials: may be made to The Earl and Maxine Bodine Scholarship Fund of Baylor University, through Mrs. Jo Campbell, in care of Adkins & Shelton, PO Box 530281, Grand Prairie 75053. Earl Nelson Bodine was born Aug. 3, 1908, in the Florence Hill community of Grand Prairie, and had been a lifelong resident until his recent illness. He was a graduate of Grand Prairie High School and was the sole remaining member of the first Gopher football team. After graduating from Baylor University in 1929, he taught and coached in various Texas high schools before returning to become principal of his high school Alma Mater. He resigned in 1934 to marry the school's English teacher, Maxine Poulter. Later, he served several terms on the Grand Prairie School Board and was recognized in 1991, as an Outstanding Alumnus. He served in the United States Marine Corps and saw combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was recalled to duty during He was active in the Masonic Lodge, serving as Past Master for both the Sam R. Hamilton and the Thomas Hunter lodges. A recognized Christian, Mr. Bodine was an active member of the First Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon, taught a Sunday school class for many years, and served on numerous committees. Survivors: Wife, Maxine Bodine of Rochester; son, Max Bodine of Branson, Mo.; daughter, Anita Bodine Williamson of Rochester, Minn.; four granddaughters, Michelle Stevenson of Elizabethtown, Ky., Missi Bodine of Memphis, Tenn., Dixie Braatz of Branson, Janet Coile of Danielsville, Ga.; grandson, Eric Williamson of Rochester; two great-granddaughters, Ashley Stevenson and Brooke Stevenson, both of Elizabethtown, Ky. Bean-Massey-Burge Funeral Home Grand Prairie, (972) 263-7200
Obituary, the Dallas "Morning News" of 17 Sept 1998.
A memorial service for Earl Nelson Bodine, a former Grand Prairie school board member and WFAA-TV retiree, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. Mr. Bodine, 90, died Sept. 1 of complications of dementia at a Rochester, Minn., assisted-living center. His ashes will be buried in his family plot in Southland Cemetery in Grand Prairie. Mr. Bodine served on the Grand Prairie school board in the late 1940s and was a broadcasting engineer for WFAA (Channel 8) in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in the Florence Hill community that is now part of Grand Prairie. His family believes that he was the last surviving member of the first Grand Prairie High School Gopher football team. "They had so few pieces of equipment that to go into the game you actually had to change clothes" with another player, said Mr. Bodine's son, Max Bodine of Branson, Mo. Mr. Bodine graduated from high school and entered Baylor University when he was 16. A shy math major, he became a teacher's assistant at Baylor. That led him to a teaching career after he graduated in 1929. While teaching and coaching in Wortham, Texas, he earned a master's degree in engineering from the University of Missouri, which he attended during summer breaks. With the advanced degree, he became principal of Grand Prairie High School. "It was kind of the high moment of his life," his son said. At the time, one building housed Grand Prairie's students, grades one through 11. In 1934, as principal of the high school section, Mr. Bodine met and fell in love with an English teacher, Maxine Poulter. He quit his job to marry her. Mr. Bodine began teaching in Highland Park and began taking additional graduate courses in electronics at Southern Methodist University. He worked at KRLD-AM before enlisting in the Marines during World War II, his son said, and received additional radio training then and as a reservist during the Korean conflict. The engineer was active in civic and church affairs. He served on the Grand Prairie school board from January 1946 to April 1949 out of a sense of public duty, his son said. Mr. Bodine later worked for radio stations, WRR-AM among them. From March 1962 until January 1974, he was a broadcasting engineer at WFAA, his son said. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, where he taught Sunday school and was a deacon before moving with his wife to Rochester in May 1997 to be near family and medical care. In addition to his son and wife, Mr. Bodine is survived by a daughter, Anita Bodine Williamson of Rochester; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.