Varetta Rhodes

Varetta Rae Rhodes, 83, of Shawnee, OK died Friday, May 12, 2017 in a local nursing home. Services will be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at Blackburn Chapel Baptist Church with Bro. Larry Sparks officiating.  Burial will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park. The family will be at the funeral home Tuesday 6-8 pm to receive visitors. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011, www.alz.org or Blackburn Chapel Baptist Church, 36305 Lake Rd., Shawnee, OK 74801.  Varetta was born February 17, 1934 in Farris, Oklahoma, to Ray & Gladys (Jones) Sain. She was a graduate of Atoka High School, as well as St. Anthony Nursing School. While in nursing school at Saint Anthony in Okla. City, Varetta met Delbert Rhodes as a patient in April 1954, when he was admitted for a spinal cord injury. She cared for him for the duration of his one month stay. Two weeks after his release, he returned to the hospital with appendicitis. In the interim, Varetta had been moved to the same floor he ended up on, and again she cared for him. After a brief courtship, they were married October 16, 1954. She worked as a Credit Card Collector for Liberty Bank and Fidelity Bank. After retirement, she was a homemaker.  She enjoyed gardening and tending to flowerbeds, her grandchildren, and going to Branson, Missouri, and was a member of Blackburn Chapel Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ray & Gladys Sain, and a brother, Bruce Sain.She is survived by her husband: Delbert Rhodes, and her dog Puddles, of the home; Daughter & Son-in-Law: Tonya and ElRoy Lane of Bethel Acres; Grandson: Joshua Dutton and Grandson-in-Law: Dr. Bradley Jones, of Burlington, VT; Granddaughter: Megan Dutton of Edmond, Brother & Sister-in-Law: Donald & Colleen Sain of Lehigh, OK; Sisters: Elizabeth Brower of Farris, OK; Judy Coffey, and Donna Sain, both of Okla. City Many nieces, nephews, friends and family members.