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Helen Hodge Wofford, 70, of Gainesville, FL passed away peacefully in her home on May 7, 2024.
Born Helen Sue Hodge on February 6, 1954 at Forbes Air Force Base in Topeka, KS, she was the firstborn child of Roger and Jo Ann Hodge. Around 1955 the family moved back to their home state of Mississippi. After Helen graduated from Greenwood High School in 1972, she went on to study at Mississippi State University (MSU) earning a BS in Horticulture in 1977. She would later receive her MS in Animal and Range Sciences from New Mexico State University in 1983.
During her time at MSU she met David Scott Wofford of Starkville, MS. They were married on August 20, 1977 at the First United Methodist in Greenwood, MS. Over the next six years David & Helen moved several places while finishing their education and growing their family, having Jefferey Scott Wofford in Las Cruces, NM in 1982, Zane Daniel Wofford in Laramie, WY in 1984, and their last child and only daughter Jessica Faye Peña-Wofford in Gainesville, FL in 1988. The family settled in Gainesville where Helen taught for nearly 20 years in a variety of science courses at both the high school and college level.
Throughout her life Helen enjoyed fishing, and for years would make annual trips with her father and children to do so. Additionally, Helen enjoyed working in her yard, sketching things she found in nature, and the beach. Later in her life she found a new love: her grandbabies. For more than 10 years she would drive to the Panhandle of Florida multiple times a year to spend time with three of her six grandchildren. She loved to take them to the beach, explore the backyard, create art, and keep a daily journal of their days and times together. She was also an exceptional cook and could take any recipe and not just make it to perfection but would always add her own twist to it. Helen was a devote Christian and kept her faith close to her heart. Like her own mother, she often saw God’s beauty in nature and the small things others might simply walk right by.
Helen was predeceased by her brother Zane Douglas Hodge, 67. She is survived by her husband David 69, siblings Carol Ann Terrell 65, and Quinton Hodge 53. All her children Jeff 41, Zane Daniel 40, Jessica 35. And her grandbabies: Dylan 14, Caron 12, Logan 10, Henry 7, Heidi 5 and Zane Stirling 1.
Viewing and chapel service will be held at Welch Funeral Home in Starkville, MS on May 18, at 12pm, followed by a graveside burial at Memorial Garden Park Cemetery.
