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Show 7 April it ms zEmmilyWetilcly X ' . - - rr"v- . - 1 V X X; . ' - Hodges--- , ' - " X N. " -- . : , 'f W - .... " ' ' x : yc . XX x M X ,', ' - ; v - X Luther VX' nV ; ' - . ;r i 'American "Dream Lj ; iL The Secretary is genial but a dynamo on the job. I ! jL6- !. ' -- T- r..,U,-.-..,- ., ; J X' IILMII 111 llll.l HLJMm.l X ' J 1ILJJ X X j; X ! - Rlabenev told a friend, "but he's not the kind of man I'd marry.' When he did ask her to marir him, her answer tvas: "I loye you very 1898. 9 og cabin th? eighth of" nine children x .. Xhe"s1iavpW larentrere"tenantr."Whehxhesw fl cropf5 failed and the family moved to the -- mother early and had to struggle. Just the same, a tender, gentle woman, died when he was 11. His she cashed in everything she had for our wedding, father, living a life of hardship, was himself June 24,1922." harsh andnbending-xTh- X" boy's life wasorie.of i rii The HoSges have enjoyed a comfortable cama- great stress. We never even ceieoratea unrisi- X: X:: TtlmTcmXTr . his Dress secretarv ..4U if raderie. As ..x. m. mas. tuuiiiKi iiuuAn vuiv Mv . . Tn the Rev. P. U. G wviin.larl'res byteriarmm Ioriearsrputs3t with each other, Alalks things over with her, ister, he found a friend who saw his value and sjie tens nim wnai sneuimits, ne vaiues uer gavfe him encouragement, soxintense. was tne boy's affinity for his mentor, a dassicspholar.inionand makes up his own mind." x i e ' i"6 ."This came as a surprise but not a permanent "She" had lost her Northx GarolinaiiRtoWijiaksy -- ' t - ... f. a" ( . IhaFWboTmlc X 1 wc xl1 Latin. "This boy will somrday e governor of the, as. a prospectiye"sbridegroom Hodges, who state," the Rev. Mr. Gwynn predicted. M ms sn" " stcamiv in luc uum- P"""1" Lrtlther nrrnqpn going to college. None oflubrothers ThacPhy xxiresrrld.--Huncut in utg vca.iic muia ywucu wjr --uftioiwi SnOUlU ne uiu nut Wnen newasuU-iic- t Ti'eNiras Field and Co., and by 1943 heas a vice presfcv have funds to complete x . to Wife Martha offers sweets on I Luthes birthday. the 16 year-ol- d son of a tenant fanner Jbegan his career selling N 1914 gwspapei-S- , ram on "the magazinescandyyand Lpop main-lin- e trains between KoanokeanaiNOnoiK, Va. CoingeastontraiiiNo4asiMasS he would catch No., 3 to return to Roanoke. "I prayedJhe recalls, "that iust once we would miss connections could go on to Norfolk and see both a large city with-No.-3-at-Sufol- k-so-I f--L rand the 5oceanrI had never seerreitheif One day this dream was f ulfiira Arnvihg in Norfolk at night, he was permitted a day's lay over in the city. Sleeping in a flophouse room with a dozen other persons, he clutched the railway's money bags for fear they would be snatched from him. When day came, he wandered about the city, took a long look at the ocean, and 25-ce- nt T - " i . I f"- V w t . -- St IX dreamed ofworlds beyond. This boy, who today is Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges, not only dreamed but acted. It ; woViu Benafd-i6'fm- a ; a'shprexmpnficattli'1 of the American dreami of an ascent from rags to riches," from obscurity to eminence. - . - bnm March 'X- v X-- U in X J. x family Weekly, April 1, 1962 Hm"'!11', organt2hHsony e in 4inuer4iaducationtt ten Mrs. of a railroad S. F. Crews, wife brake- - By 1950 he was earning more than $75,000 a year, but he also yas looking to new horizons. X5 XI told myself," he reminisces, "you're ver 50, If.you'je going to do it, better do it now." He resigned from Marshall Field, and the x'X hew. Hodires worked his way through high school, then the University of North Carolina. He waited tables, fired furnaces, ran a clothes- pressing club sold Bibles door to door, and workecl in axtiiejianiJ)espitelxthis, he made the basketball team, managed the baseball stiidprit council and the senior class. man on campus." "best all-arou- Hodsres moved to West GermanyXwhere "IjGgjffigGQl Administration's industry division. 1952, Hodges, a political novice, entered the fraFto become a candidate for North Carolina's lieutenant governor, and won. Gov. William B. voted He-wa- s nd He also found time to dWngTlfCinir the ladv of his dreams in Though Luther was just a senior, the Rev. Mr. fiwvnn had arranired for him to deliver the the-spri- commencementaddress-atthe-LeaksvilIe-Hi- -'i - mm " .v m School. On the platform with him was the lady Martha Blakeney, a teacher. "I saw a pretty brown-haire- d girl diessedjn Hurgai-dyre&i&?Mi he had toliavVaateivith ' And I djd." her. 'OhrLuther HodgesUCs mtedwyeaiateiand ceeded. He was 56. ng On his first day m office, he faced a bank of gh . Hodges-is-a- ll -r- ight,'J-Martha- he ' push - m butlonsonhisdeskJn-RaleighXEartlam a y ' ' X m lor devilment ana partly to nna out what would happen, I began punching them7he recalls. People started coming in from baclcoffices an Und Hidn't eveiv "everywhere.." I was brand-neknow them. I said, 'What do you do, and why do the'basic-approachran- dyou -- do it ? -T- hat-wasr M w |