Roy Rhoades

Roy Eugene "Dusty" Rhoades died peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning, February 8th, 2015 while under hospice care in the home of his daughter Robin Robinson and her family. Dusty turned 83 on February 2nd, 2015. He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio to William Sherman Rhoades and Gwendolyn Alberta Rhoades (Andrews). He grew up in and around Kingston, Ohio alongside his three siblings: Sandra Rhoades Locke, Bill Rhoades, and Beverly Rhoades Sheldon. His sisters, Sandra Locke of Naples, Florida and Beverly Sheldon of Garden Grove, California, survive Dusty. He is also survived by his children and their spouses; Jane Rhoades Hudak and Peter Hudak of Chicago, Illinois; Robin Robison and Greg Robison of Chillicothe, Ohio; Carol Sweat and Jamie Sweat of Chino, California; and Roy Rhoades and his wife Bessie Watson Rhoades of Cleveland, Ohio. He has two remaining brother-in-laws, Leslie Wonderleigh and Warren Carver that still live in Chillicothe. Dusty has numerous nieces and nephews residing in Ohio, Georgia, California, Texas, and Oregon. Dusty has four surviving grandchildren, Lori Brofft of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Nathan and Artie Garman of Chino, California; and Elizabeth Rhoades of Savannah, Georgia. Dusty has one great-grandchild, Gage Robison of Chillicothe, Ohio. He successfully served as a corporate executive for the DuPont Company in Circleville and in Columbus for the majority of his professional career. Upon retiring, he served at the Executive Director of the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce. His love of people and music combined into a lifetime of serving others through song. He served for many years as the choral director at Tabernacle Baptist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church. He also served as director for several local Barbershop choruses, most notably for the Singing Buckeyes of Columbus. His love of barbershop music took him to numerous concerts around the country and even to other countries to spread the love of the barbershop sound. He was a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society for more than 55 years and was also a member of the prestigious Sage Lake Roundup, a veteran group of Barbershop Harmony Society members. Upon his passing, many barbershop members shared with family members that a barbershop icon, which was loved by all, will be missed. In these ways, Dusty loved and served his God and community from an early age and raised his children to love and serve in this way, too. Dusty's children carry on his love of community and service as a testament to those high principles that he and his wife, Marilyn Carver Rhoades, exemplified during their lives. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his remembrance to Women at Risk, International (https://warinternational.org/donate/) or Good Works (http://good-works.net/). The family would like to invite all community members to attend a Celebrate through Song Concert, in remembrance of Dusty, on April 25th at 2:00 PM at Trinity United Methodist Church, Chillicothe, Ohio. He touched the lives of thousands of people in ways we will never truly know.
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