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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAt Shillington High School, Rhoda was on the varsity football, basketball, track, and swim teams. John Updike\u2019s father, Wesley, coached the swim team and was an assistant coach on the football team, and Rhoda\u2019s son, Jeff, recalled his father telling him that a \u201cclassmate, John Updike, would stop by his family home with his father to help count the concession stand proceeds after games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy father had a Huck Finn childhood,\u201d Jeff Rhoda said. \u201cHe hunted with his father and trapped muskrats before school and then sold them for 10 cents each.\u201d The younger Rhoda also said his father \u201cgrew up in Amish country and enjoyed his scrapple and shoofly pie.\u201d He added, \u201cMy parents rarely missed a happy hour at the end of the day. My father had a daily cigar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhoda later attended Albright College, where he was the starting point guard on the basketball team, after which he received a degree in pharmacy from Philadelphia Pharmaceutical (later Philadelphia College of the Sciences). He worked as a pharmacist for most of his life, and also coached youth football in his community. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Irene McLaughlin, a retired Baltimore County Library administrator; two sons, Rich Rhoda of Centerville, Ohio and Jeff Rhoda of Baltimore; a daughter, Sharon Hovde of Madison, Wis.; six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. The John Updike Society offers their condolences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A life celebration will be held August 8 on what would have been the couple\u2019s 70th<\/sup> wedding anniversary at a location to be announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the full obituary<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former multi-sport athlete Richard \u201cDick\u201d Rhoda died June 12, 2023 at the age of 92. Born in Shillington, he was the son of textile mill worker William \u201cWit\u201d Rhoda and hospital administrator Kathryn Long. At Shillington High School, Rhoda was … Continue reading