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Note: Extract from the 1920 Census:
Name: Robert Rhode
Age: 6
Estimated birth year: 1914
Birthplace: Minnesota
Race: white
Sex: male
Relationship to head of house: son
Home in 1920: Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota
Address: 1225 West First Street
Marital status: single
Able to speak English: yes
Father's birthplace: Norway
Father's native tongue: Norwegian
Mother's birthplace: Minnesota
Occupation: attending school
Sibling living at home: Richard (age 4)
Census place: Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota; Roll: T625_859; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 120; Image: 50 Date: 8 Jan 1920
Extract from 1930 Census:
Name: Robert B Rhode
Age: 16
Estimated birth year: 1914
Birthplace: Minnesota
Race: white
Sex: male
Relation to head-of-house: son
Home in 1930: Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota
Address: 1225 First Street West
Education: able to speak English
Education: able to read and write
Father's birthplace: Norway
Mother's birthplace: Minnesota
Occupation: attending school
Sibling living at home: Richard S (age 14)
Census place: Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota; Roll: 1126; Page: ; Enumeration District: 64; Image: 1124.0
Date: 4 Apr 1930
Extract from U.S. City Directories 1821-1989:
Name: Robert B Rhode
Street address: 1225 West 1st Street
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Occupation: student
Residence year: 1934
Publication title: Duluth, Minnesota, City Directory
Extract from U.S. City Directories 1821-1989:
Name: Robert B Rhode
Street address: 1225 West 1st Street
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Occupation: clerk Northern Drug Company
Residence year: 1935
Publication title: Duluth, Minnesota, City Directory
Education:
Washington Junior High School, 1929
Duluth Central High School, 1932
Duluth Junior College, 1932 and 1933
University of Minnesota, Bachelor of Civil Engineering, June 1937.
Extract from the 1940 Census:
Name: Robert Rhode
Age: 26
Estimated birth year: 1914
Birthplace: Minnesota
Race: white
Sex: male
Relation to head-of-house: roomer
Home in 1940: Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota
Address: 98 Baldwin
Marital status: single
Highest grade of school completed: high school 4 years [sic - should be college 4 years]
Living on farm: no
City of residence in 1935: Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota [sic]
Resident on farm in 1935: no
Occupation: engineer
Industry: Great Northern Railway
Salary or wage worker: wages
Number of weeks worked in 1939: 52
Amount of money wages or salary: $2000
Has other income of more than $50: no
At work during week of March 24-30: yes
Number of hours worked: 45
Census place: Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota; Roll: T627_2002; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 90-251
Date: 11 Apr 1940
Article from the "News-Tribune" of Duluth, Minnesota dated 26 May 1940:
The marriage of Miss Elizabeth Tennant, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Tennant, 221 North Twenty-third Avenue East, and Robert B. Rhode, 2109 East Second Street, was solemnized at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in the Pilgrim Congregational Church parlor.
The Reverend T. C. McQueen officiated, and Mr. Tennant gave his daughter in marriage.
Miss Jean G. Tennant was the bride's only attendant, and Richard S. Rhode was best man.
Extract from U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947:
Name: Robert Berg Rhode
Age: 26
Birth date: 24 Dec 1913
Birth place: Duluth, Minnesota
Race: white
Residence: 183 South Chatsworth, Apartment 103, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota
Telephone: Elk 7111
Name of person who will always know your address: Mrs Elizabeth T Rhode
Relationship: wife
Address of that person: 183 South Chatsworth, Apartment 103, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota
Employer: Northern Pacific Railroad (Bridge Engineers Office)
Place of employment: 5th and Jackson Street, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota
Other characteristics: none
Height: 5 feet 7« inches
Weight: 138
Eyes: blue
Hair: blonde
Complexion: light
Registration date: 16 Oct 1940
Newspaper clipping from the scrapbooks of Agnes Berg Rhode from the "Daily Missoulian" of Missoula, Montana dated 21 Jan 1944:
N.P. to Rebuild Bridge at Kenspur Soon
A contract for rebuilding bridge No. 23 on the Northern Pacific's Bitter Root branch near Kenspur, north of Stevensville, has been awarded to Fielding and Shepley of St. Paul. Work is to begin immediately. This was the bridge through which an engine plunged last June, causing the death of the fireman, engineer and head-end brakeman. A temporary structure was built to carry Bitter Root traffic, [and] trains [are] now using it.
The job consists of the construction of four new piers, two approach spans, and the replacing of the span which was washed out last June. N. F. Nelson of St. Paul is superintendent for the contractor. R. B. Rhode of Seattle [sic] is resident engineer in charge of the work for the railroad. It is expected that a large force will be engaged for this necessary work, which is essential to keeping the branch open to traffic.
Article from the "Independent Record" of Helena, Montana dated 13 Feb 1948:
Robert B. Rhode of Missoula, divisional engineer for the Northern Pacific railway, will talk on modern railroad operation at a meeting of the Montana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers in the Montana Power assembly room at 8 o'clock tonight, Gordon Ebersole, secretary, said today.
Article from the "Gazette" of Billings, Montana dated 15 Feb 1948:
Modern Railroads
Are Described
Helena, Feb. 14 - (AP) - Modern railroading was described by Robert B. Rhode of Missoula, division engineer for the Northern Pacific railway, at a meeting Friday night of the Montana section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
A centralized traffic control system, recently installed between Helena and Garrison and operated from Missoula, was explained. A minature system of lights shows the Missoula operator the exact position of the train at all times and it is like operating a midel railroad "king size," he said.
A record is kept on train movements by the use of an automatic recorder on graph paper. Siding switches and signals are operated from an electric switch engine [sic]. Other similar installations are being planned, he said.
Newspaper clipping from the scrapbooks of Agnes Berg Rhode from the "Daily Missoulian" of Missoula, Montana dated 28 Feb 1948:
Rhode Leaving NP Service
R. B. Rhode, division engineer for the Northern Pacific railway on the lines between Garrison and Kootenai, Idaho, on the Rocky Mountain and Idaho divisions, has resigned, leaves Saturday to assume new duties.
Mr. Rhode will be bridge engineer for the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range railway, operating in the mining regions of northern Minnesota, with headquarters at Duluth. He enters that railway's service on March 1.
He had been with the Northern Pacific railway engineering department for nine years, as bridge engineer, on field construction and as division engineer at Missoula since July 1, 1946, when he succeeded S. A. Erickson upon the latter's retirement. Mr. Rhode is a graduate of the engineering school of the University of Minnesota.
Newspaper clipping from the scrapbooks of Agnes Berg Rhode [probably from the "Duluth News-Tribune" of Duluth, Minnesota] dated 2 Apr 1948:
A new resident in Duluth is Robert Rhode, who arrived here recently from Missoula, Mont., where he was a division engineer with the Northern Pacific railroad. He will be joined by his wife and two sons, Peter and Richard, in the latter part of May. At present Mr. Rhode is staying with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sigurd A. Rhode of 2109 East Second street. He has just accepted a position as bridge engineer with the Duluth, Missabi & Iron Range railroad. Mrs. Rhode is the former Elizabeth Tennant, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Tennant of 221 North Twenty-third avenue east.
Extract from U.S. City Directories 1821-1989:
Name: Robt B Rhode
Gender: male
Street address: 4949 London Road
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Occupation: assistant engineer DM&IR
Spouse: Elizabeth T Rhode
Residence year: 1951
Publication title: Duluth, Minnesota, City Directory
Extract from U.S. City Directories 1821-1989:
Name: Robt B Rhode
Gender: male
Street address: 3620 East 3rd Street
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Occupation: principal assistant engineer - DM&IR
Spouse: Eliz T Rhode
Residence year: 1957
Publication title: Duluth, Minnesota, City Directory
Article from the "Herald" of Duluth, Minnesota dated 8 May 1978:
Rhode retires from DM&IR
The retirement of Robert B. Rhode, chief engineer, has been announced by M. G. Alderink, general superintendent, Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Co. Rhode is being succeeded by Guy Liljeblad, engineer of track.
Rhode has been in railroad engineering for 41 years, 30 of them with the Missabe. A native of Duluth, he is a civil engineering graduate of the University of Minnesota who began his railroad career with the Omaha as a chainman.
For a short time he worked for an engineering firm before joining the Northern Pacific, now part of the Burlington Northern, as a draftsman. He worked in Montana, Idaho and Washington, advancing to division engineer in Missoula, Mont. He joined the Missabe in 1948 as structural engineer.
Rhode became assistant chief engineer in 1957 and chief engineer in 1959.
Rhode was heavily involved in construction of the railroad's Duluth Lakehead taconite pellet storage and reclaim facility and responsible for new track systems to accommodate new taconite plants.
Over the past few years, he has directed relay of main lines from 115-pound bolted rail to 132-pound welded rail and construction of a major new yard at Keenan, near Eveleth, plus expansion of the centralized traffic control system.
Rhode is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers and American Railway Engineering Association. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have four children and six grandchildren.
His parents raised him as a congregationalist (a main-line protestant denomination) in the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Duluth, Minnesota, due to his father being a Lutheran and his mother being a Seventh-Day Adventist, with the congregational church a compromise his parents could agree upon.
He worked for the Northern Pacific Railway, and then the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway, eventually becoming Chief Engineer; he retired 1 Apr 1978. He was in charge of tracks, bridges, and the Duluth ore docks. He designed and had built the ore transfer facility to the east of the ore docks. He loves Montana, and probably would have moved there after retirement if his wife Elizabeth Tennant Rhode had not died. He was age 67 when she passed away at age 62.
Before moving to 3620 East 3rd Street, the family lived at 4949 London Road in Duluth. The family moved out before Christmas 1953, and stayed with the Richard Spicer family until January 1954.
He is the father of four children, who grew up in the family home at 3620 East 3rd Street in Duluth, Minnesota, located on a hillside above Lake Superior, surrounded by birch trees, with the large back yard ending in the woods below. The family moved into that home on 30 Dec 1953.
He has traveled extensively around the world after retiring, and has visited all the continents and most of the countries of the world. A wonderful father, friend and raconteur. Greatly beloved by all who know him.
He is a Mason and a Rotarian. In the early 1960s he acquired a used sailboat and repaired it in his garage. When it was completed he moored it in the Duluth-Superior Bay. He soon sold it and obtained another, and had a sucession of ever-larger sailboats over the years. He became an expert sailor, and a graduate of Power Squadron classes. He and his son Richard won the first ever Duluth Yacht Club three-leg sailboat race with the smallest sailboat, on a handicap basis. First prize was a pair of boat shoes. He also rented a sailboat and took his children and their families on cruises in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. His last sailboat was a 35 foot Westerly "Tiger," manufactured in England with a single fixed keel. It had a one-cylinder diesel engine. On his last sail he and his son Chris and Dad sailed it from the Superior Entry to the Duluth Ship Canal on one tack all the way back.
In 1991 he took his son Richard and wife Martha, daughter Kathy, and Lynn Spicer, to visit Norway for two weeks. He has also been to Norway on his own, and with his son Peter, as well as with his brother Richard, in 1995.
Much of the genealogical data in this file has been compiled by him over the course of 20 years of effort, searching out data on the Rhode, Berg, Rovde, Spicer, Stokke, Tennant, Hooden, and other families.
He threw an 85th birthday party for himself in Duluth at the Kitchi Gammi Club on 29 Dec 1998. Among the family members attending were: Richard H. Rhode, Martha E. Rhode, Peter S. Rhode, Kathy Rhode Cassioppi and husband Peter Cassioppi, and their children Elizabeth and Charles Cassioppi.
On 5 Mar 2001 he moved into "Mount Royal Pines," an apartment building for seniors, so as to avoid the use of stairs. He had lived in his former home at 308 Wildwood Drive for abount twenty years. He was age 87 when he moved.
Interview with Robert Berg Rhode 10 Jul 2003:
Alf Rovde called my Dad by telephone in the 1950s; they tried to speak Norwegian to each other, but never met. Dad told him about my Uncle Storm Rhode who was in the Air Force. Storm and Alf met when Alf's ship (Alf was the captain) pulled into Norfolk and Storm came down from Washington, D.C. where he was posted. In 1981 Storm and I went to Norway (via separate routes). We met in Oslo, then flew to lesund, where we were met by Alf, who took us to visit his sister Marie Sigurdsd. Rovde and her husband Einar Ertesvg. Then we drove to Syvde and Rovde.
Some of the trips he has taken:
1953: visited Richard S Rhode family and Richard G. Spicer family, both in California, on family vacation
18 Jun 1991: took son Richard and his wife Martha, and daughter Kathy and cousin Lynn Spicer to Norway for ten days
7 Sep 1991: visited east Glacier National Park
9 Oct 1991: visited Maine
23 May 1992: visited Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria
25 Jul 1993: visited Kirkenes, Norway
17 Oct 1994: visited Milan, Italy
17 Oct 1994: visited Capri (Pompei before, Rome after)
17 Jun 1995: visited Norway with brother Richard S. Rhode
30 Oct 1996: visited Marrakech, Morocco
19 May 1997: visited London
23 Jul 1997: visited the North Cape in Norway
4 Feb 1998: left on a trip from Chile by ship through the Straits of Magellan to Argentina.
1 Jun 1998: to Norway with son Peter for 11 days
22 Jul 1999: to Alaska for fishing with sons Dick and Pete
21 Apr 2000 to 10 May 2000: Holland-America Line cruise on the "MS Maasdam" to the Azores, Madeira, Casablanca, Cadiz, Malaga, Ibiza, and Barcelona
31 May 2000 to 3 Jun 2000: fishing trip with Peter Rhode to the Buena Vista Resort near Morrison, Ontario, 35 miles northeast of Baudette
2002: rail trip from Idaho to Montana and back
28 May 2003: to Norway with sons Richard and Peter; return 9 Jun 2003
16 Jul 2003: visit to brother in California; return 21 Jul 2003
22 Nov 2003: visit to brother in California; return 29 Nov 2003
Plus, every year for about ten years through 2001, a fishing trip to Missoula, Montana with son Richard in September [except for 1999 and 2002 and 2003]. Also, he has visited Norway seven times.
He threw a 90th birthday party for himself at the Kitchi Gammi Club in Duluth on 29 Dec 2003. Attending were:
Peter and Mary Rhode
Richard and Martha Rhode
Christopher Rhode
Kathy and Peter Cassioppi
Elizabeth Cassioppi and Tom Krucz
Charles Cassioppi
Daniel Rhode and Fiona Holland and Aidan Rhode
Gertrude Jacobson
[source: Richard H Rhode 30 Dec 2003].
Extract from U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002:
Name: Robert B Rhode
Address: 308 Wildwood Drive
City: Duluth
State: Minnesota
Zip code: 55811-5203
Phone number: 218-727-4396
Residence years: 1993 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001
Extract from U.S. Public Records (2005):
Name: Robert B Rhode
Birth date: 1913
Street address: 66 East Saint Marie Street 216
City: Duluth
County: Saint Louis
State: Minnesota
Zip code: 55803
Phone number: 218-724-0788
Household members: Name Est. age Birth year
Robert B Rhode 92 1913
Extract from U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002:
Name: Robert B Rhode
Address: 66 E Saint Marie Street
City: Duluth
State: Minnesota
Zip code: 55803-2646
Phone number: 218-724-0788
Residence years: 2002
Email to Diane Aune 9-19-07:
Dad Rhode suffered a stroke at home on Thursday, 9-13-07, and his friends noted that he was acting a bit slow, so they had him go to the Saint Lukes emergency room, where he was diagnosed. He was admitted to the hospital, and was there through today, 9-19-07.
He has suffered some facial and left arm paralysis, and initially had difficulty speaking and swallowing. However, he has since made remarkable progress. He is eating, drinking and talking, and has been up and walking.
Today he was transferred to the Benedictine Home next to Saint Scholastica school. The web page is http://www.bhcduluth.org/, and the address is:
935 Kenwood Ave
Duluth, MN 55811-4951
(218) 723-6408
Article from the "News-Tribune" of Duluth, Minnesota dated 11 Sep 2017:
Centenarian engineer, Aerial Lift Bridge share honors
by John Lundy
An international gathering of engineers in Duluth this week has honored two local engineering icons: the Aerial Lift Bridge and Robert B. Rhode.
The latter was a 16-year-old Central High School student by the time the roadway was added to the iconic bridge in 1929.
Rhode, 103, a lifelong Duluthian, retired railroad engineer and still-active member of the Duluth section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, was presented a plaque honoring him as the group's oldest member on Monday during the ASCE's Congress on Technical Advancement, which is taking place at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.
The Duluth section, made up of civil engineers in 10 northern Minnesota counties and six Northwestern Wisconsin counties, is celebrating its own 100th anniversary. That means Rhode is older than the organization he joined in 1937, noted Chris Rousseau, an engineer for Minnesota Power who is also a member.
"He turns 104 on Christmas Eve this year, and he has been at section meetings every month for as long as I can remember," Rousseau said. "When somebody's still that engaged in their career, in their industry past a hundred years old, I think he epitomizes the attitude and the excitement that people have for the engineering profession."
Wearing a sport coat over a white dress shirt, Rhode used a walker to reach the front of a conference room and acknowledge a lengthy standing ovation from his fellow engineers after a plaque was presented to him by Kristina Swallow of Las Vegas, the organization's president-elect.
"Do I have to say something?" Rhode asked, and gratefully returned to his seat after being assured a speech was not required.
Rhode graduated from Duluth Central in 1932 and from the University of Minnesota with a civil engineering degree five years later. He spent his entire career in the railroad industry, finishing with the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway. He served as president of the Duluth section of the ASCE in 1953-54.
Swallow also presided as the Aerial Lift Bridge was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Somewhere north of 200 engineering feats have earned that distinction worldwide, she said; the bridge is the fourth to gain that distinction in Minnesota.
"For it to receive that status and that designation is a pretty significant milestone for any structure that's ever built," Rousseau said.
The bridge was built in 1901-05 and originally used a gondola car to ferry passengers across the Duluth ship canal. Local historian and author Tony Dierckins, in a presentation to the engineers, pointed out that the bridge's basic original framework remains intact.
This week's conference has drawn engineers from as far away as Alaska, Europe and China, Rousseau said.
He passed away at 2:40 p.m. on 27 Aug 2018 aged 104 years, 8 months and 3 days old. He had been declining lately and died peacefully.
Posting by Carolyn Rhode Tosczak dated 28 Aug 2018:
My grandpa passed away yesterday at the age of 104. He and Cassie shared a birthday, December 24, with Grandpa being born in 1913 and Cassie 90 years later. After attending Duluth Junior College, he graduated from the University of Minnesota during the Depression. He was a railroading engineer for 41 years and loved trains all his life. He completed cross-continent train rides in China, Russia, Canada and Australia. He was a Rotarian and a proud Norwegian-American. Grandpa's mind was sharp to the end and he brought his life to an end on his own terms, simply wanting to be with his wife Betty. A good life Grandpa. We will miss you.
Email from Storm Rhode III dated 4 Oct 2018:
Thanks so much for the note regarding your father's passing. I'm sorry you didn't have my email, as I would like to have sent a card and some words to the visitation service.
I'm sure you've heard this from many people, but here's one more set of accolades-- your Dad was one of the all-time-great-guys. I appreciated so much how he kept in touch with my parents, and remained a regular caller to my mother throughout the rest of her life, even 18 years after my father's death. I especially appreciate how he kept in touch with me, managing somehow to remember my birthday and call me on the phone every year, as well as always taking the time to write nice little Christmas notes on that old typewriter of his.
And what an adventurer! He amazed us all with his travels to exotic places, and we are so grateful he developed and helped maintain ties to our Norwegian cousins.
Gutsy too! For example, when he visited Virginia about 20 years ago -- at the young age of almost 85, I asked him to help me deliver a car to a garage. He was to follow me, at night, over unfamiliar roads, in my manual shift RX-7 sports car. He had not driven a manual shift in years, but, without hesitation, he gamely followed me. I didn't realize until later how difficult it must have been for him.
And of course, frugal. I thought the fact that he darned his own socks was fantastic. The use of red thread was even better. I'm color blind, but even I could tell they had been darned!
Just as your Dad will be missed in Minnesota, he'll be missed in Virginia, too. But, he also will be well remembered -- as a shining example of "a life well lived," to which, we would add "a life well loved."
Please give our best to Martha, Peter, Kathy, and Chris. Obituary from the Dougherty Funeral Home dated 1 Sep 2018:
Robert Berg Rhode, 104, of Duluth, died Monday August 27, 2018 at the Benedictine Health and Rehabilitation Center. He was born on December 24, 1913 to Sigurd A. Rhode and Agnes Berg Rhode in Duluth. Mr. Rhode attended Duluth Public Schools, graduating from Central High School in 1932. He attended Duluth Junior College and received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1937 from the University of Minnesota. In May of 1940 he married Elizabeth T. Tennant. From that union four children were born. Mr. Rhode was involved in railroad engineering for 41 years, 30 of which were with the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad. He began his railroad career on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Omaha Railroad in St. Paul after graduation. He worked as a chain man. He was employed by Ellerbe and Co., St. Paul; Clyde Iron Works, Duluth; and the Northern Pacific Railroad (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway) in multiple field locations from Missoula, Mont., to Seattle, Wash., during the war years. In 1948 he began his service with the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway where he served as Chief Engineer for 19 years. Major projects during this period included the design and construction of the taconite-handling facility adjacent to the Duluth ore docks; the Two Harbors unique ore thawing shed using infra-red heating; modernization of all old-style bridges on the Missabe; and track upgrades to accommodate current loading. He retired from the D.M.&I.R. in 1978.
ÿ ÿMr. Rhode was a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and served on their national board of directors for several years. He was a life member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and served on the committee concerned with the rolling of steel railroad rail. In 1956 he served on the mayor's task force on development of the major highway plan through the City of Duluth.
ÿ ÿMr. Rhode was involved in the local and state associations for developmentally challenged children and was one of the incorporators of the United Development Activity Center (UDAC) as well as on the Goodwill board for several years when their activity was expanded with the purchase of their present facility. He was a member of the Lake Superior Council of Boy Scouts. Mr. Rhode was a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church (UCC) and a former trustee. He was a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, Rotary, the Duluth Valley of the Scottish Rite, and the Sons of Norway Duluth Nortun Lodge 1-016.
ÿ ÿHe was preceded in death by his parents, Sigurd and Agnes; wife Elizabeth Tennant Rhode in 1979; and his brother Richard S. Rhode in 2008.
ÿ ÿHe is survived by his children Peter (Mary) of Roseville, Minn., Richard (Martha) of St. Paul, Minn., Christopher of Duluth, Minn. and a daughter Katherine (Peter) Cassioppi of Rockford, Ill., 6 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
ÿ ÿSpecial thanks to the staffs of Mount Royal Pines III and Marywood at the Benedictine Health and Rehabilitation Center for their care and concern for Mr. Rhode.
ÿ ÿThe family requests that memorials be sent to the Duluth Regional Care Center, 5629 Grand Ave., Duluth, MN 55807, the Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorders, 28 W 2nd St., Duluth, MN 55802 or Pilgrim Congregational Church (UCC) 2310 E. 4th St., Duluth, MN 55812.
ÿ ÿVisitation will be held on Monday September 17, 2018 at Pilgrim Congregational Church (UCC) 2310 E. 4th St. Duluth, MN 55812 from 10 AM until the 11 AM Funeral Service. Burial will be in Park Hill Cemetery.
ÿ ÿArrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home, 600 E. 2nd St., Duluth, MN 55805. 218-727-3555.
Obituary from the American Society of Civil Engineers:
ASCE's Oldest Active Member Dies at 104
Robert B. Rhode, ASCE's oldest active member, has died at the age of 104 in his hometown of Duluth, MN.
Rhode, P.E., L.S., F.ASCE, leaves a legacy of civil engineering accomplishments both in Duluth and with ASCE. He served as the Duluth Section president in 1953-54 and on ASCE's Board of Direction as the District 7 director 1980-82. Age didn't keep him from remaining active in ASCE, as he continued attending Section meetings in recent years well beyond his 100th birthday.
"He would come to literally every monthly section meeting," said Chris Rousseau, P.E., M.ASCE, himself a former Duluth Section president and Region 3 governor.
"Every time we had a technical presentation, he always had at least one question for the presenter. He always had something to say.
"He wanted to be there, always supportive, always interested in what we were doing. Just a very affable, very welcoming guy. And he loved the organization, that was very clear."
Born on Christmas Eve 1913, Rhode joined ASCE in 1937 after receiving his degree in civil engineering that year from the University of Minnesota. He worked for the Omaha Railroad and the Northern Pacific Railroad, before beginning a 40-year career with the Duluth Mesabi and Iron Range Railroad in 1948.
"His family recalls his dedication during his tenure with the DM&IR," Rousseau wrote of Rhode in a member profile for the Duluth Section. "He selflessly, on many occasions, responded to late night calls to address emergency situations including derailments. Many of his engineering accomplishments still remain in service including railroad bridges and the DM&IR loading docks with which he had design involvement."
Rhode earned ASCE Life Member status in 1978 before current Society younger members were even born. He had been named an ASCE Fellow in 1966.
He also was a life member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, and was involved in the local and state associations for developmentally challenged children.
Robert married Elizabeth Tennant Rhode in 1940, and they raised four children together before her passing in 1979. He is survived by those children, Peter (Mary) of Roseville, MN, Richard (Martha) of St. Paul, MN, Christopher of Duluth, MN, and Katherine (Peter) Cassioppi of Rockford, IL, six grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.
Just last year, the Duluth Section honored Rhode as part of its centennial celebration.
"As a Section, I think we were incredibly blessed to have him," Rousseau said.
Burial: in the Rhode plot in section B of Park Hill Cemetery in Duluth, Saint Louis, Minnesota. The Rhode plot contains Sigurd Angel Rhode, Agnes Berg Rhode, Severin Andreas Elias Sorenson Rhode, Laura Caspara Stokke Rhode, Storm Christopher Rhode, Mary Catherine Tague Rhode, Elizabeth Traver Tennant Rhode, Nina Frances Berg Roberts, and Olyne Augusta Berg. Section B, block 13, Lot 10. 192827570
The Rhode Family Tree has many photographs of this person.
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