of Maumelle,

March 6, 1922 - July 17, 2014

John M. Rhoads, Jr., 92, of Maumelle, Arkansas, departed from this life to meet Jesus on July 17, 2014 following a long, exhausting battle with declining health. Our beloved was born John Marshall Rhoads, Jr., the middle child in a family of five, to John Marshall Rhoads, Sr. and Martha John (Erwin) Rhoads on March 6, 1922 in Malvern, Arkansas.

Childhood and teenage years were spent growing up in Malvern where he graduated from Malvern High School in 1940. With war looming on the horizon, he worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps before being called into the military service. Following basic training, his group of Army Air Force inductees spent their war years at the 389th Bomb Group at Hethel AFB in northeast England, where he served as company clerk.

Back in the States at the close of the war, he joined many other returning GI's attending college under the GI Bill, at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, graduating in 1950, with a bachelors degree in Business Administration.

Military life was still attractive, so he attended ROTC in college and was commissioned a brand-new second lieutenant in the newly created branch of the military services, the U.S. Air Force. His career included service at several U.S. installations stateside as well as duty in Korea and a second tour of duty at High Wycombe AFS in England. This period also included time at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio for John to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he earned his masters degree in Business Administration.

During his military career as well as in retirement, John spent much of his life in service at the churches he attended where he served as an ordained deacon, Sunday school teacher, pianist and any job he could do.

John cheered his family, friends and co-workers with his friendly, outgoing personality. Strangers quickly became friends. He was selfless, giving, truthful, faithful, loyal, witty and thorough. He always placed others before himself in every facet of his life from meals and comfort to support. He was very organized at keeping records, both personal and business. As he spent most of his career working with computers from their infancy to the super computers now available, he was extremely computer literate from email and word processing to online banking. To him, no computer was fast enough and no keyboard or printer behaved as he wished.

Preceding him in death are his parents and three siblings, William Rhoads, Samuel Rhoads and Clara Sue Murray. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Mildred Kistner (Oliver) Rhoads, daughter Roxane Tackett (husband R. David) of Maumelle, grandchildren Matthew Tackett of North Little Rock, Benjamin Tackett and Jennifer Tackett of Maumelle, sister Martha Ann Montgomery of Cabot and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held from 11 am until service time at 12 noon on Thursday, July 24, 2014 at Roller-Owens Funeral Home, 5509 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, Arkansas (501-791-7400). Interment will be at the Arkansas Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
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