Carlin “Richard” Rhodes, formerly of Edna, KS, passed away at the age of 78 on Monday, December 5, 2016 at Wood Manor Nursing Home in Claremore, OK. A memorial service will be held at 3:00 on Monday, December 12, 2016 at the Edna United Methodist Church.
Richard was born to Hubert and Velma (Reedy) Rhodes on June 28, 1938. He graduated from Edna High School in 1956 and attended Coffeyville Community College. He served as a Sergeant in the Kansas Army National Guard from 1961 to 1967 and was an expert rifle sharpshooter.
As a young man, Richard loved the outdoors and nature, and he particularly enjoyed hunting and trapping. After catching a wild mink in a trap, he was intrigued by the animal, and this eventually led him to turn his trapping hobby into a business. While working in Idaho after graduation from high school, he met a mink rancher who taught him the ins and outs of running a mink farm, and he was hooked. He came home, and with his father’s help, he bought four mink at a cost of $160 which eventually developed into a ranching operation of over 1,200 mink. He spent many years raising and breeding the animals and perfecting pelt colors through genetics. He traveled the country for mink shows where this young small town Kansas boy was a well-respected and award winning breeder who sold pelts to furriers in New York and all across the U.S.
When his father retired from the insurance business, Richard assumed the responsibilities of running Rhodes Insurance until his own retirement. He eventually sold the 80 acre farm south of Edna and moved to the senior apartments in Edna where he regularly fed hummingbirds and spent his best hours of the day at the Woodshed, drinking coffee with his buddies at the “Coffee Club.” He was a proud Cherokee Nation tribal citizen and was a member of the Edna United Methodist Church where he handmade the kitchen cabinetry and other wood work when the current church was built several years ago.
Survivors include his daughter, Carla Rader and husband Steve of Claremore, OK; granddaughter, Evi Rader of Stillwater, OK; and grandson, Myles Rader of Stillwater, OK. He is also survived by one brother, David Rhodes and his wife Diane of Welch, OK.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Edna Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 190, Edna, KS 67342.
In celebration of Richard’s life, there will be free coffee (compliments of Richard) at the Woodshed in Edna following the memorial service.