Vivian Joyce Rhodes, a lifetime Ponca City resident, passed to be with the Lord Jesus on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. She was 92.
The funeral will be held at 10 am, Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Trout Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Michael Taylor officiating. Burial will follow in Longwood Cemetery under the direction of Trout Funeral Home.
Vivian was born on December 30, 1931, at her parent’s home in Ponca City, Oklahoma to Cecil and Gertrude (Alexander) Rowen. She graduated from Ponca City High School in 1950 where she was a Dynamiter. Before marriage, she worked as a dental assistant, telephone operator with Bell Telephone Company, and keypunch operator at Conoco. She was a lifetime member of The Rebekah Lodges.
She married James L. “Jim” Rhodes on March 17, 1956, at Second Baptist Church in Ponca City. They built three houses together in Ponca City by 1966 with the third being their forever home.
She was very independent and always wanted to fix things herself. For example, she reupholstered multiple favorite chairs and other pieces of furniture.
She excelled and enjoyed being a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She never knew a stranger as was able to strike up a conversation with anyone. She was tireless in taking care of whoever happened to be needing her assistance, especially her grandchildren. She loved spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren, and one of her favorite hobbies was baking with her grandchildren. She was a member of the First Baptist Church.
She is survived by her three children, son, David, his wife Rhonda, and their children, Kortny Miller, her husband Jacob, and their children Eli and Averie Dylewski; Sean; Rachel; and Abby; son, Charles, his wife Judy, and their daughter Juelya; and daughter, Kathleen Brown, her husband James, and their daughters Katie and Katrina. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Jim Rhodes; two brothers, Royden and Kenneth Rowen; two sisters, Thelma Baker and Berniece Love; and two grandsons, Jimmy and Justin Brown.
Pallbearers will be David Rhodes, Charles Rhodes, James Brown, and Sean Rhodes. Honorary pallbearer Eli Dylewski.
Memorial contributions can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.
