Robert E. Rhodes
FRANKLIN—Robert Earl Rhodes, 71, retired sergeant from the Franklin Police Department, went to be with the Lord on May 19, 2010, at Southampton Memorial Hospital. He had been sick on and off since 2008.
Robert was born in Isle of Wight County on July 27, 1938, to the late Edward Curtis Rhodes and Minnie Spivey Rhodes, and was a member of South Quay Baptist Church where he was raised as a child. Robert was a member of the American Legion, the F. O. P. No. 56, Franklin/Southampton, and a charter member of the Delaware Hunt Club. Robert was an avid hunter and fisherman and loved to watch his garden grow and give most of it away.
Robert served his country in the U. S. Army from 1957 to 1964. Then, he joined the Franklin Police Department where he served his community for 34 years and 8 months until he retired in 1998.
Survivors include his beloved wife of 46 years, Maggie Everett Rhodes; his daughter, Teresa R. Unser and husband, Jerome “Jerry”; and his pride and joy, Jerome and Kimberly Unser, his twin grandchildren who will miss their granddaddy greatly; a sister, Virginia Mae Byrum of Suffolk; three brothers, James W. Rhodes and Richard Rhodes, both of Hopewell, and William Rhodes of Zuni; and Robert’s two best friends, Norman “Punk” Lankford and William “Bill” Edwards.
The funeral was be conducted at 2 p. m. Tuesday, May 25, in the chapel of Wright Funeral Home with the Rev. Wayne Gardner officiating. Interment, with military honors, will follow at Southampton Memorial Park.
The family will received friends from 7 to 8 p. m. Monday at the funeral home and sends a special thank you to all of Robert’s doctors and wonderful nurses who have taken care of him and all those we may have missed. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, 4217 Park Place Court, Glen Allen, Va. 23060-9979 or American Diabetes Association, 870 Greenbrier Circle, Ste. 404, Chesapeake, Va. 23320. www.wrightfuneralhome.org.