William Rhodes, Deceased February 26, 1966
Macon Cowles remembers: 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 Will 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.
[in_memoriam_closing]
Will and I were classmates in the 1965-1966 fall semester Berkeley College philosophy seminar, taught by Berkeley’s Dean Charles Scott. The college seminar was small, about a dozen students, with most of us sophomores and at least one freshman (Will.) The class met in the Swiss Room. The suite I shared with my roommates was nearby and Will and I would occasionally meet there to study and chat.
I was aware of his cancer, but not the details. He was a fellow classmate taking a challenging and fascinating course and the course was our focus. I remember his return from a dire prognosis and his desire to continue his studies. Macon Cowles’ comments capture the man I knew for only a few months.
After attending my own 50th reunion last year, I realized that I had something to contribute to the Class of 1969 50th: In Memoriam comments about Will. I had been the editor of a very sporadic Berkeley College “newspaper” and our only 1965-66 paper was published on March 11, 1966, a few weeks after Will’s death. This Class of 1969 link goes to that edition and, on page 2, you’ll see the In Memoriam words written fifty-three years ago.