Mrs. Eunice Isabell Covey Covey Rhodes

EUNICE ISABELL COVEY RHODES

Eunice Isabell Covey Rhodes was born on June 18, 1922, into what would later be called “The Greatest Generation”. She spent her young life in beautiful upstate New York, surrounded by apple orchards and dairy farms. She told us stories of skiing to school as a child and dances in the ballroom above her home. In her early twenties at the beginning of WWII, she accepted a blind date from a friend and met a young soldier from West Texas named James Adrian Rhodes, Jr. who was stationed at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, in preparation to be deployed to Europe. They fell deeply in love but mother always being practical agreed to an engagement but refused to marry the young soldier as she did not want to be a war widow. Upon his return at the end of the war, they married and drove from beautiful lush, green, upstate New York, to his home in West Texas, to reside with Jim’s parents who she had never met. I asked mom how she made that transition, she stated very simply “I loved your Dad and you Dad love me, that’s all we needed.” That was mother; a more true and devoted love never existed in human form. She followed Dad through his career with the Bureau of Prisons, packing and unpacking six time before finally coming to rest back in Texas. Mom always unpacked every box. When asked about this, she stated, “Home is where your Dad is, and Dad is where his job is.” She was completely supportive and although I’m sure there were disagreements, we never heard them.

Jim and Eunice raised three boys; Gerald Melvin (Jerry), Larry James and Terry Don. Two of which followed their father’s career path into the Bureau of Prisons, the third (Larry) was called to the ministry; where he has served faithfully for better than 40 years and continues to serve today.

On the occasion of her 90th birthday; Jerry, organized a celebration at his home which two of her favorite nieces (Kathy and Karen) were able to attend. They were the daughters of her sister Edna who she was very close to and who she and Dad spent much time with when they were all first married. Kathy and Karen had prepared a memory book filled with pictures from those days. When mother opened it she happened to open to a page that had a picture of Dad probably in his early thirties. Without hesitation, and with true love in her voice, she stated, “He was so handsome.” This some 24 years after he went to be with the Lord. Mother never showed an interest in remarrying or even associating (dating) another man. When asked, she would say, “When you have had Prime Rib, Hamburger just won’t due.”

Mother went to be with the Lord and reunite with Jim and all those who have gone before her on January 21, 2016.

She is survived by her three sons; Jerry Rhodes and wife Lisa of Eustace, Texas, Larry Rhodes and wife Laura of Bethalto, Illinois, and Terry Rhodes and wife Johanna of Larue, Texas, ten grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren and numerous friends and bridge playing buddies.

Mother will be greatly missed but we rejoice in the fact that as the Apostle Paul said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and the promise that as believers we will be reunited with our loved ones eventually.

Goodbye for now mother, until we meet again.

We love you……..