John R. Lodge Jr.
Published 1:47 pm Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
John Richard (“Dick”) Lodge Jr., died on Sept. 20, 2024, surrounded by his devoted and loving family.
Born in Sewanee, Tenn. on June 16, 1949, Dick was the son of the late the Rev. John Richard Lodge and Sarah Virginia (Pat) Lodge.
Dick is survived by his wife of 46 years, Virginia (Gina) Tyler Lodge; their daughter, Sarah Lodge Tally (Trey); son, Richard Matthew Lodge (Rachael); grandchildren, Virginia Frances Tally, Earl Burton Tally (E.B.) IV, John Richard (Jack) Lodge III and Josephine Bright Lodge. He is also survived by his siblings, Henry Lodge (Donna), Sarah Lodge and David Lodge (Andrea); and many nephews, nieces, great-nephews and great-nieces.
Dick’s childhood residences and memories extended from Alabama to Alaska to Tennessee with a high school diploma from Escambia County High School in Atmore. He attended the University of the South (Sewanee) and graduated in 1971 followed by Vanderbilt School of Law, where he graduated with his J.D. in 1974.
Following law school graduation he worked in the Tennessee state attorney general’s office until 1976.
While he enjoyed defending the state of Tennessee in his practice of law he was called to politics after an encounter with a candidate for the United States senate.
Dick joined the U.S. senate campaign to elect Jim Sasser in 1976 and after the senator’s successful election, Dick moved to Washington, D.C. to become Sasser’s first legislative director. This move was a fortuitous one in that he met his future wife and political soul mate, Gina, who had just moved to D.C. to work with freshman Senator Patrick Moynihan.
Dick and Gina married in 1978 and moved back to Nashville (Tenn.) for Dick to join the law firm of Willis and Knight. It was during his early years in the private practice of law that Dick became well known to many of his friends as one of the best home chefs in Nashville. His family’s background in the cast iron skillet business (Lodge Manufacturing in South Pittsburg, Tenn.) combined with his wife’s encouragement led Dick to become a terrific cook, using all manner of cast iron cookware. He was known for whipping up delicious meals after late night political meetings along with entertaining friends, neighbors and clients regularly.
The call of the political arena was a loud one for Dick and true to his nature, he followed his instincts and was elected Tennessee democratic party chair in 1983. He served for five years as chair and during that time headed the committee of southern states to create Super Tuesday. Dick’s legal career took him to Bass, Berry and Sims, where he became a partner and headed up the firm’s government relations practice area for many years.
During his years at Bass, he stayed active in local and state government, becoming the first chair of the Nashville Sports Authority, appointed by Mayor Phil Bredesen in 1995. His leadership talents were evident in many places but the work he did as senior warden at Christ Church Cathedral, as the president of legal services of Middle Tennessee and his work with Thistle Farms in its infancy were distinguishing parts of his service.
One of his heart’s great interests was serving on the Sewanee Board of Regents as his tremendous love of Sewanee, the place and the college, were very important parts of his life. In addition to his family’s strong and generations old commitment to the Episcopal Church, it was Sewanee where the crossroads of religion, spirituality and education met for Dick, providing a sound framework for his dedication to the world outside his practice of law.
Dick’s energy was straightforward and direct making him a powerful advocate for clients, friends and family. While his forceful strength of advocacy was to be admired, he offered never ending quiet kindnesses to those needing help. Dick loved deeply and those that were blessed by that knew it without measure.
He was a true and loyal friend while always reminding any guest at his home not to stay too late at the lovely dinner parties he and Gina hosted whether it was at the home they restored in East Nashville or their home in Oak Hill. Family friends remember fondly the wonderful magic he had with babies, bringing an immediate sense of calm to infants in his arms.
From mentoring any number of young lawyers to mentoring those destined for church leadership to helping create a pathway for young political leaders, Dick had extraordinary insight and an innate understanding of how to help people move forward and find their path.
His lifelong commitment to his spiritual beliefs combined with his intellectual acumen gave great strength and clarity to his work along with adding value to his leisure. He and Gina greatly enjoyed travel, studying in advance of their trips about the cultures, practices of the people and history of the places they were visiting. Dick’s fascination with and love of wildlife and the outdoors took him back to Alaska on several occasions. His knowledge and passion about birds of all kinds was contagious.
Dick will be remembered for the absolute love and commitment he had to the wellbeing of his children along with the true partnership he shared with Gina. His eyes twinkled at the presence of his grandchildren, and he would talk for hours about his time with them.
He was a true and loyal friend. To his friends presenting with problems, he was known to say, “Come on over for dinner and we will figure it out.” And although Dick was known for rarely saying “goodbye” at the end of a phone conversation, but instead simply hanging up at the conclusion, he could not have been a better listener or friend when the occasion demanded it.
The Lodge family would like to thank the entire staff at Abe’s Garden Community for their loving care of Dick and to the Alive Hospice professionals for their end-of-life care.
A visitation with the family was held at Christ Church Cathedral on Sept. 25. Funeral services were held on Sept. 26.
In lieu of flowers, Dick would be honored to be remembered at Abe’s Garden Community, The Center for Contemplative Justice (CCJ) or Christ Church Cathedral.