{"id":485419,"date":"2026-01-01T19:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T19:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485419\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T19:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T19:41:11","slug":"woman-pays-tribute-to-late-brother-during-2026-polar-plunge-in-jacksonville-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485419\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman pays tribute to late brother during 2026 Polar Plunge in Jacksonville Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. <\/strong> \u2013 More than 1,000 people ushered in 2026 by jumping into some really cold water at Jacksonville Beach for the 37th annual Polar Plunge on Thursday morning. <\/p>\n

One of the people there did this for a personal reason. <\/p>\n

\u201cI came here today to swim in the water with my brother,\u201d Patti Hodge said. <\/p>\n

Hodge paid tribute to her older brother, Dr. Jeffrey Carrier, who died on New Year\u2019s Day 2025 after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 78 years old. <\/p>\n

Dr. Jeffrey Carrier, who died on New Year\u2019s Day 2025 after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 78 years old. (Photo Courtesy: Patti Hodge)<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that he was with me,\u201d Hodge told News4JAX as soon as she put her feet into the Atlantic Ocean during the Polar Plunge. \u201cHe was with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Beach was an appropriate place for Hodge to honor Carrier. She says they grew up in the area and it\u2019s the same beach where they forged their bond with water.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Beach was an appropriate place for Hodge to honor Carrier. She says they grew up in the area and it\u2019s the same beach where they forged their bond with water. (Photo Courtesy: Patti Hodge)<\/p>\n

\u201cI remembered the first time we ran into the ocean together,\u201d Hodge said. \u201cHolding hands and he is pulling me, saying \u2018Come on, come on. We are going to go in deeper and deeper.\u2019 He loved the water. We both do. Our father brought us to the beach at Eighth Street South. We stayed in a motel up on Third Street called the Driftwood Motel. The first time we stepped foot in the water, my brother just looked out and said, \u2018My life is going to involve this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

His life did. Dr. Carrier was a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a world-renowned marine biologist.<\/p>\n

He taught biology at the high school and college level, including in Albion, Michigan. <\/p>\n

His life did. Dr. Carrier was U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a world-renowned marine biologist.
\nHe taught biology at the high school and college level, including in Albion, Michigan.
\nHe spent his summers working and volunteering as a director and instructor at Seacamp NFHI in Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys. (Photo Courtesy: Patti Hodge)<\/p>\n

He spent his summers working and volunteering as a director and instructor at Seacamp NFHI in Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys.<\/p>\n

He was affectionately called \u201cThe Shark Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

His work as an author and researcher were featured in the National Geographic and Discovery Channel. (Photo Courtesy: Patti Hodge)<\/p>\n

His work as an author and researcher was featured in the National Geographic and the Discovery Channel.<\/p>\n

After his death, some of his ashes were scattered in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

It is the place where memories came crashing in Hodge\u2019s mind like the waves hitting the shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI collect sharks\u2019 teeth and made it into his books with all of my collections,\u201d Hodge said. \u201cWe have a connection here. I know my brother is out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participating in the Polar Plunge is how Hodge plans to spend a part of New Year\u2019s Day every year for the rest of her life. <\/p>\n

Hodge wants to cherish the memories she has of her older brother, whom she misses dearly but loves so much. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. \u2013 More than 1,000 people ushered in 2026 by jumping into some really cold water…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":485420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,10765,219423,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-485419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-beach","13":"tag-polar-plunge","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115821548893323340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}