For more than a century, Anna Elizabeth Raynor Hodges' faith brought her about as close as you can get to God on this Earth. And on March 15, 2023, in the company of her beloved son John, that faith carried her on to her eternal home, finally reuniting her with her husband Owen, and her sons James and Jarvis in the embrace of the Lord.

Elizabeth was born on January 11, 1921 in Linden, North Carolina to John Edgar and Anna Louise Wilkens Raynor. Being the first of five children raised on a farm, from an early age she learned the importance of hard work and community. Most importantly, she learned that those two ideas are not exclusive. For the rest of her life, Elizabeth understood and embodied the quiet significance of focusing on the task at hand, whether in a classroom or setting the dinner table. Her faith always led her to lead others, whether she was aware of it or not.

Never was that idea truer than when she married Owen Hazel Hodges and relocated her growing family to a home on 13 ^th Street in Lumberton. In her boys, James, John, and Jarvis, Elizabeth found and fostered a love that would come to define her as much as her faith. She sunk her roots deeply in marriage and motherhood, and that identity didn't end at the Hodges front doorstep. For an entire generation of Lumbertonians, Elizabeth Hodges became an extension of their own family – she became another home, another mother, graceful and supportive and unwilling to leave a mouth unfed. It was hard work, but that's what Elizabeth did best.

Despite their best efforts to undermine her, she kept her sons alive, and sent them out into the world to build their own communities. But as the decades passed, she always made sure that she was never too busy for a phone call or a visit on the screened-in porch; and her boys made sure they were never too busy to oblige.

When her son James had children of his own, she embraced the role of Grandma in the same way she approached everything else: with enthusiastic passion. For nearly 30 years, she held their hands the same way she had held her sons' hands: with a strength and a softness that contradicted each other. She kept their academic awards on the wall. She wrote them letters, just because. Ordered them to refill their plates at Thanksgiving. Sometimes, she just sat and smiled at them and thanked God.

Elizabeth Hodges lived her life with intention. She showed her love intentionally. She wrote letters. Saved everything that might one day mean anything. She was good at that: knowing what things actually mean something.

Her gratitude for her life was reflected in her service to others.

Through her work as a teacher's assistant and as activities director for the Robeson County Cancer Institute, she built a community that has lasted decades, and will remain long after she is gone.

The legacy of her love is what she left us, and a place and its people are forever changed because of it.

Elizabeth is survived by her son John Edgar Hodges, her daughter-in-law Laura Jean Hodges, her grandsons Samuel and Zachary Hodges, her nieces Louise Watson, Christy Martin, and Beth Bullock Allen and her children, Jameson and Ashley Allen, and her nephews John Henry Raynor, Tony Bateman, and Tim Bateman.

She was preceded in death by her husband Owen Hazel Hodges, her sons James and Jarvis Hodges, her siblings Evelyn Bateman, Paul Raynor, Christine Raynor, and Vernon Raynor, and her nieces Betty Ann Raynor and Vickie Raynor.

Elizabeth's son, John, wishes to express his deepest gratitude for uplifting him and his mother in prayer during the last few days, months, and years. They both have felt incredibly blessed to be supported and celebrated by the community they love so dearly.

Services will be held at 12 pm (noon) on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at First Presbyterian Church in Lumberton, 1002 N. Chestnut Street, Lumberton, NC 28358.