RHODES, Louise
born: Jul 6 1944, Nevada, Vernon Co, MO
died: Jan 19 2012, Kansas City, Jackson Co, MO
burial: Jan 24 2012
arr: Hadley Funeral Home, Windsor, MO

Louise Rhodes, 67, of Windsor, Missouri, died Thursday, January 19, 2012, at St. Luke’s Hospital, Kansas City, Mo.

She was born in Nevada, Mo., on July 6, 1944, the daughter of William Lewis Gray and Juanita Aldene (Graham) Gray. On August 22, 1964, at the Trinity Methodist Church in Appleton City, she married Ronald Dale Rhodes and he survives of the home in Windsor.

Louise was a 1962 graduate of Appleton City High School. She then earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Central Missouri State University (now University of Central Missouri) in 1966. After teaching one year in Appleton City, she began a 30-year teaching career in the Windsor School District, teaching English and Speech and Debate. After retiring from teaching in 1998, she served on the Advisory Committee of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for 2 years. In 2000, she returned to her educational passion as the W.H.S. Speech and Debate coach for 6 additional years.

During high school she was the Worthy Advisor of Rainbow in Appleton City. She was a member of the Windsor United Methodist Church and the Tera Kidwell Circle of the church. She was also a member of Sigma Kappa, GFWC Keystone Club, Henry County Chapter of D.A.R., Chapter BA, P.E.O., Missouri State Teachers Association, Henry County Democrats, and the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri, serving in various leadership positions in these organizations over the years. She was also a Single Diamond Coach of the National Forensic League.

In addition to her husband, Ron, survivors include 3 daughters, Arianne Fortune and her husband Ron, of Gladstone, Mo.; Adrienne Albert and her husband Chris, of Liberty, Mo.; and Allison Rhodes of Windsor, Mo.; 3 grandchildren, Alexander, Hillary, and Connor, a half-sister, Frances Pounds, Redlands, California; a step-sister, Sheryl Hauch, Bucyrus, Mo.; a brother-in-law, Danny Rhodes and his wife Susan, of Mulberry, Kansas; and a sister-in-law Lindy Rhodes of Mulberry, Ks. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her step-father, Lawrence Ditty.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at the Windsor United Methodist Church with Rev. Peggy Eshelman officiating. Burial will be in the Laurel Oak Cemetery, Windsor. The family will receive friends Tuesday before the service from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at the church. Friends may call Monday at the Hadley Funeral Home, Windsor, from noon until 8:00 p.m. The family suggests contributions to the Windsor High School Master Scholarship Endowment Fund to establish the Louise Rhodes Memorial Scholarship and contributions may be left in care of the funeral home.