Donald Everett Rhoades

02/05/1933 - 07/16/2024

Donald Everett Rhoades passed away peacefully July 16, 2024, in Redwood City, Ca.

Don was born in Oakland, California to Dorothy & Donald Rhoades on Feb. 5, 1933. He and his twin sister Marilyn grew up in Palo Alto, Ca where he attended Palo Alto High School. After attending Lawrenceville School in New Jersy for one year, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. As a Golden Bear, he was a member of the water polo team and the Zeta Epsilon Tao Fraternity. Following graduation in 1955, Don served in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii and then attended business school in Europe.

Don joined Kaiser Permanente Aluminum & Chemicals Corporations as project manager, overseeing port site development abroad. He spoke fondly of his travels to Austria, Germany, and Ghana and his work in Jamaica where he oversaw the establishment of "Port Rhoades," named in honor of his father.

Don later settled in Swansbooro, in the foothills of Northern California. He enjoyed boating water and snow skiing at Lake Tahoe where he won many blue ribbons as a trick skier and a speedboat racer. A pilot for over 50 years Don especially loved to share the experience of riding in a Pitt's Special while he flew loops, rolls & stall turns with those who could brave it.

Uncle Dusty is survived by his two nieces, Karen Hoffman Gilhuly and Sheila Hoffman Lee and their families. He was preceded in death by his niece Nancy Hoffman (2018) and his twin sister Marilyn Rhoades Hoffman (2017).

As a family friend said upon Don's departure, "now he is blissfully flying his plane up in the heavens."

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle from Jul. 27 to Jul. 29, 2024.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/donald-rhoades-obituary?id=55707907