Kerry Hodges
- Actress
Kerry Hodges was born Kerry Marie Kiesel in Guantano Bay, Cuba while her father ( a Marine Corp. officer) was stationed there. Her father, Lt. Col George Kiesel was of German/Irish ancestry and her mother Eileen (Carew) is Irish. Her grandmother came to the United States from Ireland at the age of 14 as an orphan and settled in NY with family.
As a military brat, Kerry spent most of her young adult life moving around the United States and attending several different schools. She started elementary school in Okinawa, Japan ( where she attended 3 different schools ) and then moved back to the United States. In total, Kerry attended 9 different schools before attending university and lived in 7 states and two countries ( some more than once).
As a young child Kerry showed a natural gift towards music and began playing the violin and piano at the age of 8. She also began singing and performing in the school chorus and attributes her love of musical theatre to Ms. Rhonda Kirby, her chorus teacher, who exclaimed one day in class "I found my 5th grade Annie!". The next year in school Kerry proudly played Annie. She continued with several other productions over the years but ultimately chose to focus on the violin and perform with the Kansas State Honor Orchestra before moving to Northern Virginia. She continued to be part of the symphonic orchestra where she competed in both Canada and Florida with her high school's and she won numerous awards for her solo's, duet's and quartet's.
Kerry attended University of North Carolina Pembroke where she was a Varsity Cheerleader (she had been a gymnast in her younger years and had cheered at Fairfax High School in Virginia) a member of Order of Diana of Tau Kappa Epsilon, and was a political science major. During the fall of her junior year she transferred back to Florida due to her father becoming very sick. He passed away in 1993.
Kerry graduated from University of South Florida with a degree in Political Science and went on to have a very successful career in the HR and Risk Mitigation field.
As a young child Kerry showed a natural gift towards music and began playing the violin and piano at the age of 8. She also began singing and performing in the school chorus and attributes her love of musical theatre to Ms. Rhonda Kirby, her chorus teacher, who exclaimed one day in class "I found my 5th grade Annie!". The next year in school Kerry proudly played Annie. She continued with several other productions over the years but ultimately chose to focus on the violin and perform with the Kansas State Honor Orchestra before moving to Northern Virginia. She continued to be part of the symphonic orchestra where she competed in both Canada and Florida with her high school's and she won numerous awards for her solo's, duet's and quartet's.
Kerry attended University of North Carolina Pembroke where she was a Varsity Cheerleader (she had been a gymnast in her younger years and had cheered at Fairfax High School in Virginia) a member of Order of Diana of Tau Kappa Epsilon, and was a political science major. During the fall of her junior year she transferred back to Florida due to her father becoming very sick. He passed away in 1993.
Kerry graduated from University of South Florida with a degree in Political Science and went on to have a very successful career in the HR and Risk Mitigation field.
