William McNaught Rhodes – 50th Reunion Essay

William McNaught Rhodes

Date of Death: 26-Feb-1966

College: Berkeley

(This memorial was submitted by Macon Cowles in 2018.)

Will Rhodes was a friend of mine. He attended one of the four original Denver high schools: South High. His father was the Chaplain for the University of Denver. Will and I were both in an Episcopalian high school fraternity known as Tau Sigma. The members of Tau Sigma were leaders from high schools throughout the Denver area. Will developed bone cancer in one of his legs while still a junior in high school. His leg was amputated, and Will carried on cheerfully and peacefully. We were both ecstatic when we each decided we were going to Yale. My parents knew Will’s parents, and I know through them how concerned they were about him as he left for Yale in September 1965, for it was not at all clear that the amputation had cleared his body of the cancer.

Will and I checked in frequently with each other during our first semester on the Old Campus. He was doing well, so far as I knew. Over Christmas vacation 1965, Will got a grim prognosis from his doctors. I believe that he returned to New Haven in January, but he did not stay long. He died five weeks later in Denver. He was a splendid man, warm and kind. I don’t know who his roommates were freshman year. His parents and mine have long since passed, so this is all the information that I have about him.