George Thomas Rhodes

George T. Rhodes,
Died on Monday, January 11, 2016; he was 98 years of age. George was born on November 16, 1917 in Yonkers, New York. He played trombone in a youth band and in high school. After high school, he studied trombone at the Julliard School of Music with Ernest Clark. After four years in the Army, mostly playing in military bands, George joined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) in 1946. It was there that he met Olive Kuehn, a violinist, who had joined the ISO in 1945. George and Olive were married on June 26, 1950 in her home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
During his thirty-five years in the ISO, George continued his studies with two great tuba players, Bill Bell of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Arnold Jacobs of the Chicago Symphony. George also taught trombone at Ball State and Butler Universities.
George and Olive retired from the ISO in 1982, and thereafter, for over twenty years, they enjoyed ball room dancing and travelling to Europe, Africa and the Pacific. During their summer vacations, both before and after their retirement, George and Olive enjoyed taking canoe trips in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota and Canada. They spent parts of twenty-seven or more summers in a cabin at the Golden Eagle Lodge on Flour Lake in northern Minnesota, where they canoed and hiked daily and made many good friends.
Olive predeceased George on September 1, 2008, after a long illness, during which George visited her two or more times each day.
As was the case with Olive, George will be remembered by his many friends for his friendly, fun-loving personality and his fine musicianship. Memorials should be donated to the Arts or to the Environment. Many thanks to Robin Run Village, St. Vincent Hospital doctors and nurses, and to the St. Vincent Hospice for their loving care.
A memorial service will be conducted at Flanner and Buchanan – Broad Ripple on Monday, January 18, 2016 at 2pm.