The Twin Lakes Area is mourning the loss of one of its former leaders. Former Baxter County Judge Joe Bodenhamer died Tuesday at the age of 74.
Bodenhamer served as the county judge on two separate occasions as a Democrat. He first took office in 1995 and remained in office until he resigned in June 2004 when he accepted a job as the first Homeland Security Division Leader for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Bodenhamer later accepted a position doing mitigation work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita tore through parts of the southern United States.
After his time with FEMA, Bodenhamer served for eight months as the landfill manager of the former NABORS Sanitation. He was reelected Baxter County Judge in 2008 and served for the next four years. During his second run, one of main events Bodenhamer had to deal with was the ice storm of 2009 in which the cleanup efforts in Baxter County had a total price tag between $5 and $6 million. When commemorating the 10-year anniversary in 2019, he told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News one memory that stood out was the manner in which the community came together to help one another.
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Bodenhamer was defeated in his 2012 reelection bid by Mickey Pendergrass. He ran unsuccessfully for the office again in 2014 as an independent.
Bodenhamer previously served on the Mountain Home School Board for 9 1/2 years, including two years as president and two as vice president. In addition, he is the former owner of a number of area businesses, including Telephone Connections, the Lockeroom and the Bull Shoals-Flippin TV Cable system.
Gathering of Family and Friends will be held at Kirby & Family Funeral Home on Saturday, August 19, 2023 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
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