Glenn William Hodges

December 18, 1928 - January 24, 2021

Glenn Hodges, former banker and pioneer in the Video Rental business, died peacefully in Memphis after a lingering illness. He was 92. Born in Tuckerman, Arkansas, he moved to Memphis with his family soon after graduating from high school. He subsequently graduated from the University of Arkansas before being drafted into the Army where he served two years as photo editor at the Army Central News Processing Center in Kansas City, MO, during an era when there were hundreds of both small and large newspapers eager for stories and photographs of local men engaged in the Korean war. Following his Army service, Glenn obtained an MA degree from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston and a JD degree from the University of Memphis (then known as Memphis State University). During his tenure in the banking business he graduated from the Stonier School of Banking at Rutgers University and the Graduate School of Consumer Banking at the University of Virginia. After graduating from the Fletcher School Glenn joined First Tennessee Bank (then First National Bank of Memphis) as an executive trainee. He held many management positions at First Tennessee, the last being statewide marketing director, and was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Consumer Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., in which capacity he represented the CBA in testimony before the U. S. Senate Banking Committee as the Fair Credit Billing Act governing the respective rights and obligations of issuers and holders of consumer credit cards was being crafted, the rules of which now appear in summary form on the back of most credit card statements. Glenn left the banking business in 1980 to become Vice Chairman of Guardsmark, Inc., owned by his longtime friend Ira Lipman. While at Guardsmark he also held the position of Chairman of National Security and Trust Company and resigned to join another old friend as treasurer of Robert T. Henkel International Public Relations Company in New York where he handled such well-known clients as the nation of Saudi Arabia and the then wildly-popular Care Bears. At a time when just 4% of Americans owned video cassette recorders (VCRs) Glenn recognized the potential of the video rental business and returned to Memphis to focus on Video Magic-Midtown on Union Avenue in Memphis which grew into one of the largest independently-owned video stores in the nation and almost certainly the most revered video store in the city. After 12 years in the video business, he foresaw the future demise of the concept and sold Video Magic and spent the remainder of his life in retirement. Glenn is survived by his sister, Pat Means (Charleston, SC), by two nieces, Glenda Laughlin (Charleston, SC) and Patsy Gardner (Senatobia, MS) and by a nephew Bert Means (Dallas, TX). He was preceded in death by another nephew Mark Means, and is also survived by three great nephews Phillip Gardner (Senatobia, MS), and Chase and Preston Means (Dallas, X), and by three great nieces Camille Means (New York, NY), Audrey Wilson (Jackson MS), and Bethany Higgins (Charleston, SC). He is also survived by a great, great nephew and two great, great nieces, and by a host of friends who added joy and depth to his life for which he never failed to acknowledge great gratitude. At Glenn's request there will be no funeral or memorial service. Anyone wishing to honor his memory in a tangible manner may send a memorial gift to the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, 610 Goodman Street, Memphis TN 38111, or to a charity of your choice.