I recently learned that Clinton Hodges passed away on Monday. He was 82 years old.
Last winter, I reported a story about Sterling Lamb that was published in Edible DFW. I spoke with the man who was a visionary, seeing a market for sheep bred for meat in a state where sheep had long been bred for wool. Following a bold about-face on his family’s third-generation ranch near Sterling City (he was at point in his seventies), he started raising the Sterling Lamb that was quickly adopted by some of the city’s most prominent chefs: Omar Flores at Casa Rubia, Matt McCallister at FT33, Misti Norris at Small Brewpub.
I spoke with his granddaughter Courtney Hodges, who had shown the family’s sheep since childhood and in the early years of the new lamb-meat business, drove orders to Dallas in trips carved out around her day job schedule.
Their story is a fascinating dip into Texas livestock history. The Hodges have been deeply involved in animal husbandry research (at San Angelo College and elsewhere). It’s also a success story of small, local businesses and artisans that forge their path with help from chefs who will put lamb tongue on their menu and lamb sweetbreads, not just the racks. It’s a story worth knowing and telling. Courtney, who has a degree in agricultural economy and agricultural business, never envisioned getting into the business of specialty lamb meat, but she chose to help take up the family business. Her reason was a one-word answer: “Granddad.”
My condolences to the Hodges family. Men like Clinton are a rare breed.
(You can read the obituary here.)
