J.B. RHODES JR.
Aug. 24, 1955-March 12, 2008
J. B. Rhodes Jr., funeral service practitioner for 32 years, succumbed to this earthly life and passed into eternity on Wednesday at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
He was born the son of J.B. Rhodes Sr., Goldsboro City Councilman and proprietor of the Rhodes Funeral Home and the late Mildred Body Rhodes, floral designer of the Rhodes Funeral Home Florist.
The beginning years of his educational journey were spent in the Goldsboro City Public Schools. He graduated from Goldsboro High School in 1973. He matriculated at Fayetteville State University and received his degree in funeral service in 1976 from the Gupton-Jones School of Mortuary Science in Atlanta, Ga. He also received training from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and became the first African American mortician in the state to be trained as a sterile eye enucleationist. Mr. Rhodes Jr. was licensed by the State of North Carolina as both a funeral director and a mortician. He was known throughout the state for his exceptional talent and special skills of embalming. His extraordinary gift and expertise gained him the nick name of "The God Father of Embalmers."
He was the chief embalmer for several funeral establishments in eastern North Carolina including Peyton Funeral Home in Fayetteville for several years, Barnes Funeral Home in Clayton for four years, McKinney Funeral Home in Selma for 18 years, Lofton Funeral Home in Kinston for 30 years and Rhodes Funeral Homes for 32 years.
Mr. Rhodes Jr. was a member and past president of the Eastern District North Carolina Funeral Director's and Mortician's Association. He also served on the Board of Adjustment for the City of Goldsboro.
He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Clarence Moye Rhodes; two sons, J.B. Rhodes III and his wife, TeBorah, Jamison Bennett Rhodes; one sister, Tawanta Rhodes Platt of Mount Olive; two brothers, J. Bernardo Rhodes, Norman Rhodes and his wife, Yolanda, of Goldsboro; three grandsons, Jackwon Broadhurst Rhodes, J.B. Rhodes IV, Kareem Howell, all of Goldsboro; two aunts, Mary Francis Collins of Goldsboro, Evelyn Williams of Washington, D.C.; four uncles, Robert Body of the Elroy Community, Malachi Body and Samuel Body, both Parkstown, Emmuel Lewis of Goldsboro; nephews, Derrick, Heze III and Kenneth; nieces, Bianca, Altice and April; six great-nephews and two great-nieces; a special sister-in-law, Paula Moye Taylor and her husband, Jerry; a devoted health care assistant, Pauline D. Cooper; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Bear Creek Association Headquarters, 1800 S. Slocumb St. Apostle D. L. McIntyre will officiate and interment will follow at Elmwood Cemetery. The body will lie in state at the St. James AME Zion Church, 206 S. George St., on Saturday from 3 until 7 p.m. and the family will be present to greet friends from 6 until 7 p.m.
Professional services have been entrusted to Rhodes Funeral Home, assisted by area funeral directors.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on March 14, 2008 2:19 PM