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Category 10: Short-form, Average Joe

Denise Hodges

Denise J. Hodges came to Chicago with plans to be a fashion model at a time when it was an unheard-of dream for an African-American woman -- even one as striking as she.

Ms. Hodges wound up using her kitchen wizardry to build a catering business that created a good life for her family.

Still, Ms. Hodges' incandescent beauty opened doors, whether at nightclubs where she met music legends B.B. King, Billy Eckstine and Duke Ellington or at boxing matches, where she had ringside seats when a young Muhammad Ali disassembled his opponents.

Sometimes tickets for the fights were so expensive, she couldn't afford the price. So she swanned in --for free. She arrived dripping gems and furs, and everybody just assumed she belonged there.

It was a good lesson for her children, who learned that an African-American woman might work in a kitchen, but with a passport of confidence and elegance -- and maybe, a good outfit -- she could go just about anywhere.

"She said if you look like you're supposed to be there, no one will question you," said her son, Jeffrey, a pastor. "When she came into a room, it was Christmastime. She lit up the tree."

Ms. Hodges, 75, of the South Shore neighborhood, died last month at Kindred Hospital on Montrose Avenue.

She grew up in Muskegon, Mich., but moved to Chicago to pursue modeling. That career didn't pan out, but she found two new loves. One was the man she married, the late Herbert Mason.

The other was Chicago.

"She loved the fastness, the bright lights," her son said.

To ask her family and friends about her cooking is to invite salivation. Her specialties were a taste of heaven, they said: garlicky chicken wings; red beans and rice; macaroni and cheese; biscuits; salmon loaf.

She started her own business, Granny's Kitchen Catering, and for years she cooked the Saturday morning breakfast at Rainbow/ PUSH. It wasn't unusual for visiting VIPs to drop in the kitchen to thank the chef who had made their taste buds so happy. She met Mayor Washington, a young organizer named Barack Obama and gospel great Albertina Walker, among others.

"I've never tasted grits like she made," said the Rev. Willie Barrow of PUSH. "Grits and biscuits."

A friend, Barbara Jean King, said: "Every time she catered a meal, if there was a cake, I made sure I got the cake at the same time I got my food, because if you didn't, and it was gone -- you missed out."

Ms. Hodges also cooked for Ed Gardner, founder of the Soft Sheen hair-care empire. She catered weddings and events at the South Shore Country Club and the New Regal Theater.

As the movers and shakers chowed down, she wasn't above sharing her family's aspirations.

"She told this investment banker in the [food] line her grandson was having trouble paying tuition -- and he paid tuition for him," her son said.

Ms. Hodges also taught her children to fight for what was right. She had them out marching as youngsters for equal pay and fair housing.

She was strict, her son said.

"When I lived with her, when I started working, I paid rent. She was really adamant about that. She said, 'I want to train you on how to handle your money.' "

She had one kitchen commandment: Each year, she threw out all her herbs and spices -- even costly saffron -- and replaced them with new seasonings. Fresh spices gave a zing to meals, she said.

Her culinary secrets included a sugar-water mix she sprayed on fruits. "Everyone would say, 'Oh, it's so sweet,' " her son said.

In addition to cooking, Ms. Hodges cared for foster children. At one point, she had nine, he said.

She also took in a friend and her five children. They stayed at her home for a few years to get back on their feet. Now, that woman is doing well as a beautician, said Ms. Hodges' daughter, JoAnne Wells-Green.

Even when she was beset by health problems in her later years, "Talk about a sharp dresser, my, my, goodness," King said. "Beautiful suits, beautiful hats."

Glammed up, "My mama looked like Marilyn Monroe," her son said. "My wife said she looked better than Marilyn Monroe."

Pink was her favorite color. "Her carpet in the living room was pink, and she had pink provincial furniture," her son said.

She loved nothing better than "good preachin.' " The Rev. Jasper Williams of Atlanta was a favorite soul-stirrer.

Other survivors include daughters Chrysis Smith and Marlene Williams; a brother, James; 12 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Services were held at her son's church, King of Glory Tabernacle Church of God in Christ.