Gerald Dean Hodges

4/30/1936 – 9/25/2026

Gerald Dean Hodges’ long and colorful life ended on September 25, 2026, at age 90. He had sidestepped many dangers—among them a mysterious muscle-wasting condition that put him in the hospital for six months in the 1980s, a flight he was meant to be on with fellow crew members that crashed into a mountain, his commercial fishing boat that sank in rough water after he sold it, and oral cancer at age 89.

It was finally a nap in his recliner in Hayward, California that took him down.

“I’ve always been lucky,” Dean often said, and, “I never expected to live this long!”

Born on a ranch near Merrill, Oregon, close to the California border, Dean grew up bouncing between Southern Oregon and Northern California. He had a rough childhood, raised with 3 brothers and 2 sisters, mostly by a single, hard-working mother he didn’t get along with. Bright, determined and resourceful, he learned to be self-sufficient, and that independence would become the theme of his life.

He left school and home at age 15, fudging his age to enlist in the Marines. After boot camp, while waiting to be assigned, more experienced soldiers persuaded Dean that he was headed for a brutal tour, so he admitted to his commanding officer he was underage and got sent home.

Later, he tried to enlist again but this time the Army recruiter turned him away because he was small and didn’t meet the new weight requirement. Always a problem solver, Dean ate six pounds of bananas and returned to the recruiting office, proudly hitting the minimum on the scale. He served in Germany, driving supply trucks with a side hustle in gambling and procuring goods for his fellow soldiers.

He had skipped high school, studied a single semester at Cal. State, Chico, and eventually ended up in flight school. But he credits his real education to his lifelong obsessive reading habit. “I can’t believe what I did with an 8th grade education,” Dean said.

Among his careers:

- Mail carrier in San Francisco’s North Beach, where he remembered his beautiful two-bedroom apartment (with parking!) was $75 a month

- Flight instructor at Hayward Airport, sharing lessons he learned in flight school such as, “Some things, like the weather, you can’t change. So let that go and work around it.” He applied this worry-free concept to life as well.

- Flight Engineer for cargo flights of the Flying Tigers Line in Vietnam

- Commercial cargo pilot for Air America (CIA airline) in Laos in the 1960s, flying DC-4s filled with food, weapons, people and don’t ask what else. They had to land fast, unload faster and get back in the air or get shot at. They were too slow only once.

- Cargo pilot for a Belgian airline in what was then the Republic of Congo during the civil unrest of the Congo Crisis, traveled throughout Africa

- Charter passenger pilot based in Saudi Arabia, occasionally flew the Bin Laden family when Osama was a surly teenager. Supplemented his income “importing” whiskey to the officially dry country.

- Commercial tuna fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico. Loved his time on the sea and operating his own boat. Made a celebrated rescue of Mexican fishermen who’d been stranded many miles from the coast.

- Real estate broker, hired eight realtors for his Hayward, Calif. company

- Professional poker player, did well until online poker was introduced, “and everyone learned how to play”

He filled six passports travelling the Far East, Middle East, Africa and Europe for work and pleasure, and after his 1980s illness, Dean wanted to go back to flying. Unfortunately, he could never regain enough strength to pass a flight physical and renew his pilot’s license.

Other traits that made him Dean

- Drove a car like he was on a runway, accelerating for takeoff

- Drank a bottle of bourbon and smoked two packs a day for years, until, in the early ‘80s, he got tired of it and quit cold turkey

- Read thousands of spy, mystery and crime novels, also a fan of James Michener and Ernest Gann

- Had an extraordinary memory, recalling events, dates and his salaries from 60 or 70 years ago

- Was an optimist who said, “Every day you wake up is a good day.”

His positive qualities did not, however, translate well to his complex personal life. In his early 20s, Dean left behind two pregnant women, who each gave birth to a daughter. Then he followed with three ex-wives and three more daughters. At his death, four of his five daughters had been estranged from him for decades.

Dean is survived by his longtime girlfriend, Monica Abellon, who made him a better man, his sister Margaret “Louise” Erickson and her daughters, more nieces and nephews, best friend Bob Silos, daughter Bonnie Ayers Namkung (Peter), grandchildren Tai Namkung (Brittany), Anika Namkung (Matt) and great-grandchildren Cy and Lowe Namkung Reynolds. Daughters Sybil Hodges, Hillary Hodges and Jennifer Hodges also survive their father, as well as the daughter he never met, Teresa (Alan) McCowan and her three children and five grandchildren.

He is remembered as generous and helpful to his neighbors at the senior community in Hayward where he lived for 25 years. Up until the last couple of years, Dean also delighted in being a thorn in the side of building management, writing letters and campaigning to right wrongs. “What else do I have to do,” he said, “I’m retired.”

Dean’s ashes will be scattered in San Francisco Bay in a private ceremony with close friends, family and neighbors. If you wish to honor him and his adventurous life, take an international trip, read a good book or donate in his name to East Bay Children’s Book Project.

https://www.eastbaychildrensbookproject.org/