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Alvin (Al) Rhodes, age 88, left his temporary home on this earth on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 and now resides in eternity with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Though he fought valiantly to remain here with all those he loved and desperately did not wish to leave, he has now fully realized the world for which he was actually created.
Al was born on May 21, 1932 to Ule and Myrtle Rhodes in Beecher City, Illinois. He came from humble beginnings, living in a home with a dirt floor and no internal plumbing for most of his childhood, but he did not begrudge this at all – he more wore it as a badge of honor. His humor ever-present, he insisted that he would get into the local movie theater without purchasing a ticket by walking in backwards. Al had one brother and doppelganger, Gene Rhodes, and three sisters, Alice Orr, Darlene Deal and Joan Stebel, all now deceased. He was the middle child of this crew and was adored by all of them. He was very good at making them laugh out loud, as was true of most everyone he met. Though, as a kid, he would much prefer skipping school for a day at the fishing hole, he did somehow manage to stick it out and graduated from St. Elmo High School in St. Elmo, Illinois.
After graduation, Al joined the Air Force for four years, where he happily never took flight - then or at any time thereafter. During this time, he completed basic training in Texas, served in Washington state, went into civil service at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri, and eventually ended up at Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana. Later, he would work in machine maintenance at AGP Corporation in Peru, where he also met his (only slightly younger) wife who he would love with all he had for nearly 48 years.
Al married Marie Ingram on May 19, 1973 in a very small ceremony in Kokomo, Indiana. Soon after, he became employed at Delco Electronics in Kokomo as a machine maintenance tradesman, where he retired after 25 years. Al is the proud father of four children, Don (Lori) Rhodes, Debbie (Tom) Byrnes, Tammy (Wes) Shaffer and Jennifer (Greg) Butts; grandfather of twelve (one deceased) grandchildren and great-grandfather of twelve great-grandchildren. Al also leaves behind many friends, including at Zion Chapel Church in Peru, where he was a member.
Al spent most of his adult life living in Peru, Indiana. Just over two years ago, he and Marie moved to Fortville, Indiana, where he lived on a blackberry farm with one of his daughters and her family. His whole life he loved being in nature, spending time outdoors and generally staying active – whether fishing, hunting, searching for that evasive morel mushroom, mowing a lawn for hours on end, tending large gardens, spending time in his garage or barn woodworking or repurposing some piece of junk into something useful. These last couple of years, he couldn’t get around quite as well as in his younger days, but he had a very useful John Deere Gator that did a fine job of taking him wherever he needed on his 40 acres. This usually included circling the property seeing what there was to see, picking “the biggest blackberries anyone has ever seen”, keeping an eye on grandkids, or visiting with his new friend of similar age who lived down the road.
Al was a simple man with a big sense of humor and an even bigger heart. We cannot begin to express the extent of our heartbreak and, yet, at the same time, cannot celebrate enough his promotion from this life.
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” C.S. Lewis
Visitation will be held from 4-7 pm on Monday, January 25, 2021. A memorial service will be held at 11 am on Tuesday, January 26 (with a visitation hour beginning at 10 am). Each of these events are open to all family and friends and will be held at Zion Chapel Church in Peru, Indiana. A smaller, private interment service will follow at the chapel at Ever Rest Memorial Park in Logansport, Indiana.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home. Family and friends may sign the online guestbook at www.FlowersLeedyAllen.com. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Zion Chapel Church, 915 S. Broadway, Peru, IN 46970, in memory of Al.
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Zion Chapel Church
915 S. Broadway, Peru IN 46970