Rhoda Haynes

Rhoda Carter Haynes went to be with the Lord on March 4, 2019, at the age of 85.

Rhoda was born February 17, 1934 in Middlesbrough, England to Alfred and Hilda Carter. The third child of thirteen, Rhoda developed rickets and had to learn to walk again at the age of six. She described her youth as being cold and hungry, as she spent five years living on the coast during the evacuation of British youth during World War II. Because she wanted a better life for herself, Rhoda decided she did not want to stay in England. She became a nanny at the age of 19 for an American officer’s family and moved with them to America with the promise of being able to go to art school in her spare time. When they arrived in the United States, the family did not keep their promise of her education, thus forcing Rhoda to go to the consulate to find a new family. She worked hard to lose her accent as quickly as possible because so many people would ask her what England did with the money America sent. Rhoda was very shy and did not like this negative attention. She became an American citizen in 1959, one of her proudest accomplishments.

Rhoda met her future husband, Don Louis Haynes, at a dance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1954. After Don asked her to dance and got her number, the rest was history. They were married on New Year’s Eve 1955 in El Reno, Oklahoma, were blessed with two children, Stephen Louis and Carolyn Louise, and moved to Richardson, Texas. They were married for forty years before Don passed away from leukemia in June of 1996. Rhoda was a stay at home mom until her daughter Carolyn was a teenager. At that point she decided to go to work to pay for college for her children, if they chose to go. She was an accomplished self-taught seamstress who fitted clothes for the actresses on the TV show Dallas in the 1980s. She continued with an alterations business for years after. She showed her children that all challenges could be faced with hard work and a cup of tea. Rhoda was a survivor, she survived the war, becoming a widow, and beat Cancer.

Rhoda became interested in genealogy when her son Steve had a Boy Scout project of naming relatives. Due to her research, she got her husband and her son-in-law Rick Davis in the Sons of the American Revolution and her daughter was in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She had begun working on her own lineage. A loving and generous woman, Rhoda enjoyed all family gatherings, especially those involving food. She always made sure to have extra food so no one would be without. Rhoda was very loyal to people and to causes she believed in.

Rhoda leaves behind her son and daughter-in-law Stephen Louis and Julie Haynes, her daughter and son-in-law Carolyn Louise and Rick Davis, her grandchildren Amanda and Levi Stewart, Nicole Haynes and Matt Watson, Luke and Alyssa Davis, Joshua and Lizzie Davis, Aaron Davis, Paul and Angela Davis, Libby Davis, and Timothy Davis, and her great-grandchildren Jaylynn Mook, Audrey Mook, Maya Watson, Indie Watson, Winter Watson, Vivienne Davis, and Wesley Davis. Rhoda was blessed to have 12 brothers and sisters; they are: Ken (deceased), Joan (deceased), Rhoda, Thelma Collins, Ronald Carter, Ruby McGurk, Robert (deceased), John (deceased), Thomas (deceased), Hilda Locke, Maurice (deceased), Keith (deceased), and Pamela Blades.

To honor her life, Rhoda’s family has planned a visitation to be held from 5-8 pm on Friday, March 8, 2019 at Hillier Funeral Home of College Station. A funeral service will begin at 11 am with a reception to follow on Saturday, March 9, 2019, also at Hillier Funeral Home of College Station. Graveside services will be held at 3 PM on Sunday, March 10, 2019, at Buena Vista Cemetery in El Reno, Oklahoma.