Robert “Bob” Cecil Rhodes, age 89, of Glasgow, passed away at the Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital on June 16, 2023, after suffering a stroke.
Bob was born on November 1, 1933, to Allen Mayben and Bessie (Reed) Rhodes at the family home near Worland, Wyoming. He joined sisters, Grace and Frances, and brother Allen. Little brother, Tom, came along seven years later.
Bob graduated from Cody High School in 1951 and joined the U.S. Navy. He was stationed at the U.S. Naval Station in Patuxent River, Maryland where he worked as a jet plane mechanic. He was honored to be the mechanic that the Navy sent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to help test the first Russian MiG during the Korean War. He said that it was fast, and it was cold!
Bob returned to Wyoming after his discharge from the Navy. His parents had moved to Basin, and it was here that he met the love of his life, Mary Jane Davis.
Bob and Mary Jane were married in March of 1958 and had just celebrated their 65 th anniversary this spring. The young couple lived in Basin for a time where their first child, Robert Michael “Mike” was born.
Bob took a job with True Oil Company in 1960 and moved the family to Coyote Creek, near Moorcroft, Wyoming. A few short years later he was promoted to plant superintendent at the True Oil Gas Plant. True Oil was involved in the oil boom in NW North Dakota in the early 1970s and when they found a productive gas field near Arnegard they decided to move the Gas Plant and crew north. The family resided in Watford City for the next 27 years. Bob was an active member of the First Lutheran Church and served as the council president. He was a member of the Rotary Club and the American Legion.
After their son, John, died in 2000, Bob and Mary Jane moved to Littleton, Colorado to be near Mike and where the winters were not so cold. Bob volunteered at their church, St. Philip Lutheran, the local Kiwanis group, was a member of the Fab 50’s group, and enjoyed watching his grandsons grow. He was an avid Rockies and Bronco fan.
Preceding him in death are his wife, Mary Jane Rhodes; son, John Rhodes; parents, Allen Mayben and Bessie Rhodes; sisters, Grace Busch and her husband George, Frances Lass and her husband Bob; brother, Allen Rhodes; sister-in-law, Linda Rhodes, and brothers-in-law, William “Bill” Davis and his wife Shirley, and Rocky Boquist.
Bob leaves behind son Mike (Jeri) Rhodes of Littleton, Colorado; daughter Rhonda (Mitch) Griebel of Glasgow; grandsons Ben (Anna) Rhodes of Parker, Colorado, and Davis (Christine Ehlers) Rhodes of Fort Collins, Colorado; grand-daughters Janice (Zach Bailey) Griebel of Forsyth, Montana, and Debra Griebel of Glasgow; great-grandson, Cecil Griebel of Glasgow; brother Tom Rhodes of Idaho Falls, Idaho and sister-in-law Charlotte Boquist of Stanton, California.
We will miss his quick wit and easy smile and the secret to where the donuts are stashed!
A memorial service will be held for Bob Rhodes at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, June 24, 2023, at Bell Mortuary, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to a charity of choice. Condolences may be left at bellmortuarymontana.com.