Trib photographer recalled as 'fearless'
Keith Hodan had an eye for photography and animals, and he approached both with loving passion.
The award-winning Tribune-Review photographer, 54, died Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016, of a suspected heart attack at his home in Coraopolis, according to his brother, Stephen.
Trib co-workers described Hodan as a dedicated photographer with an affable personality.
“I can't think of a person in the media who would say anything disparaging about him,” said James Knox, 43, of Ross, a former colleague. “He was just a lovable guy and a good friend.”
Hodan grew up in Kennedy and graduated from Moon Area High School, where he played in the school marching band. After graduation, he followed his older brother to Los Angeles.
Stephen Hodan, 65, of Torrington, Conn., said his brother was determined from a young age to make photography his career.
“He waited on tables at a Denny's restaurant for a couple of years, and then he said, ‘I like photography. I want to be a photographer,'” Stephen Hodan said. “He went down and applied at Olan Mills (Portrait Studios) and he got a job.”
After returning to Pittsburgh, Hodan worked as a freelance photographer for several years before landing a full-time job at the Trib in 1997.
“He didn't really have any (newspaper) photo background, but he was super persistent, super polite and always willing to demonstrate he'd take whatever assignment we gave him,” said James Kubus, who hired Hodan and is now editor of upgruv, an online publication. “Keith was fearless.”
Kubus said Hodan more than once ventured into dangerous surroundings to illustrate a story.
He was seriously injured and hospitalized in 2000 while covering the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia when a Dumpster fell on him as he was shooting photographs of protestors.
That same year, the Trib honored Hodan with its first Journalist of the Year award given to the paper's most outstanding editorial employee. Hodan won multiple awards during his 19-year career from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
“I think Keith's world revolved around photography and the Trib,” said Tribune-Review Editor Luis Fábregas. “He was very dedicated.”
Trib reporters said Hodan made their jobs easier. He constantly suggested story ideas. On assignments, he helped find sources and the best ways to describe the action.
“I think we can all think of a time when he would crawl over, or under, or around things that got in the way of telling a story,” said David Conti, 43, of Brighton Heights, a former Trib reporter and metro editor.
Hodan had a soft heart for children and animals, particularly abandoned dogs and cats, and volunteered regularly at the nonprofit Animal Friends in Ohio Township.
Friends and co-workers remembered him as a kind and gentle man.
In addition to his brother, Hodan is survived by a niece Jennifer Hodan of Sun Valley, Calif.; three uncles, John Hodan of Indiana, Pa., Dan Hodan of Dallas and William Cannister of Bridgewater; and many cousins.
Funeral arrangements are undetermined.
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.
