Mike Howard Rhoads

Michael (Mike) Howard Rhoads was born on November 4, 1949, and was released from his body of pain on June 27, 2025. Mike was born in Fort Worth to John L. Rhoads and Marjorie Louise French Rhoads. His early years were spent in Fort Worth, moving to Wichita Falls in 1967 where he graduated from Wichita Falls High School. He lived in Las Vegas for a while but returned to Dallas where he lived for the rest of his life.

Mike chose to continue his education in life through experiencing life every day and sharing his optimism and joy with everyone he met. Always positive, never judgmental, he treated everyone he met with respect and kindness. He helped so many people throughout his life when they were at a low point in their life, financially or emotionally. Mike never asked for any type of repayment as he felt compensated just knowing that he had helped someone. When he was young, his mother would trundle him, his brother, and sister off to church every Sunday and he was thoroughly exposed to the scriptures and hymns, and he absorbed the essence of Christianity while never attending organized religion later in life. A light bulb doesn’t say “I glow”, it just glows. Mike did not instruct anyone what to do or how to live their life; he just set an example by showing how to live a life through his actions and how he treated people. He just “glowed”.

Mike loved nature, traveling and having fun. He was so excited when he got to travel to different places. From Tahiti to Europe, he saw a variety of sites, climates, and cultures, and met wonderful fellow travelers along the way. At home, he continued his love of nature by buying a home on an acre of land which kept him busy with gardening and landscaping until the end of his life. He also made friends with the wildlife by feeding raccoons “cat crunchies” and Oreo cookies, mounting and maintaining three birdfeeders in front of his picture window, and whistle calling to the hawks that flew over head on a regular basis.

He leaves behind his best friend and partner Shane Stewart, his deeply loved older brother John E. Rhoads (Mary Elizabeth), younger brother John L. Rhoads, Jr. (Debbie), sister Mary Virginia Fraser (daughter Maggie and fiancé John), son Raul (Erika), grandchildren Jasmine (daughter Sophie), Jacob, and Jocelyn, nephew John R. Rhoads (Katherine) and their three children Sylvie, Vera, and Warren, niece Baleigh M. Rhoads Crane (Chandler), Aunt Virginia French, nephew Jeff Rhoads (Teresa), numerous cousins and friends.

Mike was predeceased by an older brother Tommy Lee, and his parents John Lamar and Marjorie Rhoads, and his closest friend Roy Hernandez.

A special thanks to Stacie Pelt his lifelong friend and caregiver for the last few weeks of his life, and sister-in-law Peggy Stewart who also cared for him over the last 6 months, and all the family members who cared for him during his illness.