Services for Anthony D. "Ding Bat" Hodges, 55, of Palestine will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mt. Vernon AME Church on Calhoun Street. Burial will follow at Price Cemetery under the direction of Emanuel Funeral Home, Palestine.. He died Monday in Whitehouse.. He was born on Nov. 1, 1955 to William A. and Louise Black Hodges. He was the second of four children.. "Ding Bat" went to school in Palestine and was a graduate of Palestine High School. He accepted Christ early in life and united with Mt. Vernon AME Church. He later joined the Antioch Church.. On Oct. 17, 2011 God picked his rose "Ding Bat" from the garden.. He was preceded in death by his father, William A. Hodges Sr.. He leaves to cherish his memory, his mother, Louise Hodges; two brothers, William A. Hodges Jr. and Gerald Glenn Hodges, both of Palestine; one sister, Ethel Lorraine Hodges; two nieces, Tamela Smith and Whitney Whitt, both of Palestine; one nephew, John L. Whitt Jr.; and one great-nephew, Ca'Daruis Da'Jahn Whitt; and a host of family and friends.