William "Larry" Rhodes

William Larry Rhodes passed away on Sunday, June 23, 2024. Larry was born in Memphis, Tennessee on September 9,1941 to William Frank and Mola Rhodes. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Carol. He is survived by his wife, Linda of fifty-eight years, his children Torri Rhodes, Ryan Rhodes, and Shannon Rhodes Morrison (Holland) and six grandchildren Skylar Morrison, Piper Morrison, Ramsey Morrison, Kirby Morrison, Brody Rhodes, and Tate Rhodes. He is also survived by his sister, Beth, and many nieces and nephews.

Larry graduated from Kingsbury High School in Memphis, TN where he was a standout athlete earning many awards. He was All Memphis his senior year in both basketball and baseball and voted the most athletic. Larry was also the top scorer in basketball in the city of Memphis. He used to "sneak" into his high school gym at night to practice basketball. Years later when he was teaching at Kingsbury, he found out the school would conveniently leave a window unlocked for him. The principal said, "Larry gave us a million dollars' worth of publicity and put Kingsbury on the map". Whatever Larry did, he excelled in because he would not be outworked.

Larry was awarded a basketball and baseball scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University where he met his future wife, Linda Peacher. After graduating they married and moved to Memphis where Larry had his dream job of teaching and coaching at Kingsbury, his alma mater. After two very successful and rewarding years at Kingsbury, Larry was offered a job at IBM. In his first year with IBM, he surpassed everyone's expectations by being third in the nation in sales. The following year he was the first in the country to make his numbers earning him the name of "The Golden Boy!". Among other businesses Larry was affiliated with were Exxon, MCI, Worldcom, and Verizon. After retiring, Larry enjoyed playing golf with his golf buddies.

Larry loved coaching not only his own children but others as well. He was focused on teaching the correct fundamentals and Practice, Practice, Practice!

True to his nature, even with the diagnosis of glioblastoma Larry did not go out without a fight.

There will be a Celebration of Life at Kingwood Methodist Church, 1799 Woodland Hills Dr., Kingwood, TX 77339 on Saturday, August 3rd, 2024, at 11:00. For those desiring, the family suggests in lieu of flowers donations to be made in Larry's memory to kingwoodmethodist.org/give/ or gbmfoundation.com or stjude.org.