Rana J. Moody (Bode) was born on November 20, 1948 in Edwardsville, IL.   She died in her home on June 24, 2021, succumbing to a lengthy battle with breast cancer.  In her final days, she was surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors who cared for her.   She will be remembered as a beauty inside and out to those who knew her.

Rana was the first of four children of Charles and Lorraine Bode of Edwardsville.   She attended St. Boniface School and Church, and as a child she loved playing softball, baton twirling, swimming at Montclaire Pool, and spending time with her siblings and many neighborhood friends.  Rana attended Edwardsville High School and later SIUE, where she pursued a degree in Education.  By all accounts, Rana enjoyed college life and it was at SIUE that she met David Moody, her future husband.  She spoke about working at Mississippi River Festival for two summers, where she was able to see such famous musical acts as Smokey Robinson, The Who, and Janis Joplin.

After college, she and Dave got married in 1970 and started working.  With their summers free from teaching, they traveled all over Europe , Mexico, and the Western U.S. in their early twenties.  After a few years, Rana had her first of three children.  With her gentle nature, she made a natural transition to motherhood.  During her years raising children, Rana would have the titles of cheer mom, baseball mom, and swim mom.  She threw herself into these roles wholeheartedly.  Her children would later laugh at her uncanny ability to recall every one of her daughter Frannie's swimming race times over the years.  When her children were still young, Rana decided to further her education to pursue a master's degree in Speech Language Pathology.  She worked in several school districts, but the longest in O'Fallon School District where she worked until she retired in 2005.  She mentored several others in her extended family who chose to go into this field.

When she got ready to retire at the age of fifty-six, Rana embraced her new role: Nanny.  This is the role she will be remembered for by her six grandchildren.  As an accomplished seamstress, she made many Halloween costumes for her children and grandchildren, including a replica period dress for her granddaughter that was a copy of Eliza's in the musical Hamilton.  There were also countless sleepovers, baby blankets, special homemade treats, and of course, trips.  Rana loved to travel and in her retirement she made many trips to Mexico, Hawaii, Ireland, Branson, and Florida to name a few.   Every year at her house her entire extended family gathered for Thanksgiving and enjoyed Rana's remarkable spread of dishes.   Rana will also be remembered for her love of crock pot meals, Kohl's Cash, motown music, and her beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  She never missed a game, either on the TV or radio.

Rana is survived by her husband of 50 years, David Moody.  She is survived by three children:  a daughter Erin (Jason) and their three children Evan, Laney, and Bree of Springfield, IL, a son Beau (Elizabeth) and their daughter Gianna of Edwardsville, IL, and a daughter Francesca (David) Douglass and their children Louis and Annalise of Weldon Springs, MO.

She is also survived by her brother Charles (Dawn) Bode of Paradise Valley, AZ and children Travis, Natasha, and Chase; a sister Jane (Ed) Sly of Edwardsville and their children Mark, Melissa, and Michael; and a brother John (Maureen) Bode of Edwardsville and their children Andy, Ryan, and Will.

A visitation will be held from 11am-2pm on Wednesday, June 30th at Sunset Hill Funeral Home.  A Celebration of Life event will be held after the visitation at 2 pm.  A funeral mass will be held on Friday, July 2nd at St. Mary's Church with burial at St. Boniface Cemetery immediately following.  Donations may be made to the newly formed Rana J. Moody Memorial Scholarship fund, c/o Sunset Hill Funeral Home.  The endowed scholarship will be for future SIUE students majoring in Speech Language Pathology.