Words are simply words until they come together to describe a life well-lived.  As long as we remember our loved ones, they are not really gone.  Their thoughts, their feelings, and their memories become a part of us.  Our family patriarch, Troy Wesley Rhoads, was called home on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, at the grand age of 101.  Our family lost a firstborn son, a brother to ten siblings, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, and a great-great grandfather. Troy, our Rhoads Original #1, was the last remaining member of his immediate family and a distinguished member of the "greatest generation."  How does one sum up a lifetime of memories and accomplishments in a few short paragraphs when that lifetime spanned over a century?

Troy's life started on a humble farm in rural Arkansas on August 5, 1920.  Born to Lonnie and Willie Rhoads, he was the first of eleven siblings and survived them all.  He loved his family and living on the farm, even helping his dad build the large livestock barn.  This early construction experience would help him when at 18 he signed up with the Civil Conservation Corp. He was assigned to Northwest Arkansas to help build what became Devil's Den State Park. His name is engraved on a plaque in the park honoring those who served there.  In 1942, he was drafted into the United States Army and went off to war.  He first served on the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska and then later was deployed to India. He left the Army in 1945 as a master sergeant. In 2010, Troy, accompanied by his granddaughter Jennifer, was honored with a World War II Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. so that he could see the memorial honoring his and so many others' service and sacrifice to his country.

After the war, Troy came home to marry the love of his life, Beulah Collins, in 1945.  By the end of the decade, they had two children, Barbara and Bob, and were living in New Mexico.  After they moved to Springfield, Missouri, Troy made his living as a real estate agent and property investor.  He and Beulah lived out the rest of their married days, almost 67 years together, in the Springfield area before she passed away in October of 2011.  While Beulah was in James River Care Center, Troy spent every day with her for five years.  A few years after her passing, his son Bob moved his dad to North Little Rock so that they could be closer to each other.  Family was everything to Troy, but he also enjoyed crossword and jigsaw puzzles, Wheel of Fortune, fishing, mall walking, gardening, golfing, and especially watching his St. Louis Cardinals! Troy was a great man with a wonderful sense of humor, and he will be missed tremendously by all who knew him.

Troy was preceded in death by his parents and wife, his ten siblings – Roy Rhoads, Mable Bassham Crow, Opal Goodwin, Ray Rhoads, Cleo Rhoads, Amos Rhoads, Bob Rhoads, Betty Tharp, Roby Rhoads, and Thelma Goodson – and his daughter Barbara Gold, son-in-law Dennis Gold, and several nieces and nephews.  He is survived by his son Bob Rhoads and wife Christy; granddaughters Jennifer Gold, Christianna Rhoads, and Colleen Rhoads; grandsons Mike Gold (Lisa), Jeffrey Gold (Marni), James Carson (Jessica), and Jonathan Carson; great-granddaughters Taylor Gold, Karsyn Gold, Raegan Snider, and Nora Carson; great-grandsons Maverick Gold (Tori-Anne), Mason Gold (Erin), Kierian Eran, Blaze Hale, Dylan Snider, and Asher Carson; great-great granddaughter Nova Gold; brother-in-law Joe Goodson; sister-in-law Loretta Rhoads; and many, many nieces and nephews.

A private service and interment will be held at the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery in Springfield with full military honors.