With his heart bound to the Roman aqueducts, Carleton professor emeritus Trevor Hodge came alive in the classroom where he could share his passion.
A husband, father, and grandfather, Hodge died peacefully in his home on Feb. 16 at 81 years old. A service for friends and family was held at Ottawa’s Southminster United Church Feb. 22.
Hodge retired from teaching at Carleton in 1997, but continued to give guest lectures, keynote speeches, and inspire students as a retired distinguished professor of classics, he noted in the February 2012 Carleton faculty newsletter.
In the newsletter, he wrote about the charming 14 years of retirement he had already enjoyed, compared to the two or three “golden years” that used to be granted after retirement.
He had a full life and noted that even without “taking up something sensible and useful, like golf,” retirement was grand.
Roland Jeffreys, Hodge’s friend and colleague of 50 years, said Hodge attended Cambridge University on a full scholarship, and completed graduate studies at the Parthenon in Greece, braving his fear of heights.
Hodge settled in at Carleton after multiple teaching offers.
“His contribution at Carleton was extensive,” said Jeffreys, pointing to Hodge’s creation of the ancient science and technology course offered at Carleton.
As a part of this course, Hodge asked his students to create artifacts from the time period, only to be presented with a working replica of a Roman catapult, Jeffreys said.
The catapult lived just within the main doors of Paterson Hall for years, and was taken out every once in a while for a test run, Jeffreys said.
A shy and eccentric man, Hodge’s eccentricities gave him a spark in lectures.
“He could make anything interesting,” Jeffreys said. “He was a brilliant teacher.”
Marianne Goodfellow, a humanities professor at Carleton, said she invited Hodge to do a guest lecture on the Roman aqueducts for one of her classes three years ago. He went every year since.
“[Hodge] has a way of telling stories that really teach you about humanity . . . they’re really very poignant stories,” Goodfellow said, remarking on Hodge’s influence on her students.
Hodge did his last guest lecture for Goodfellow Feb. 1. After receiving many thanks from students, Goodfellow and Hodge spoke for the last time.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You’ve heard my lecture three times,'” Goodfellow said, adding he told her she could “tell it next time.”
