Susan Elizabeth Rhodes

Susan Elizabeth Rhodes was born on Dec. 4, 1951, in Lincolnton, N.C., to Robert Wilson and Helen Beam Rhodes. On Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, surrounded by loving family, Susan began her new life in heaven after waging a two-and-a-half-year courageous bout with pancreatic cancer.

Susan was a warrior princess throughout her life. Her strength and generosity touched so many lives and we will always remember her legacy of love and happiness. She graduated from Lincolnton High School, attended Lenior-Rhyne University and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in English and her Juris Doctor. She also earned her M.A. of Reading Education from Western Carolina University. She worked in publishing at Scholastic Magazine in New York City, as a teacher in Lincoln County Schools, as well as a partner at Roberts and Rhodes Law Firm in Gastonia. She also had her own private practice of law and ended her career as a senior Workers’ Compensation attorney at Michael A. DeMayo in Charlotte.

She is lovingly survived by her sister, Cathy Katz and her husband Mark, her brother, Robert Rhodes and his wife Shaye, her uncle, Oscar Sappenfield and his wife of blessed memory Kathryn, her nieces, Erica Katz and Lacie Burton and her husband Clay and daughter Ella Kate, her nephew, Josh Katz, and her dear friend of 23 years, Darrell McKee.

The family received friends from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 2, at First United Methodist Church. A funeral service to celebrate her life was held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, at First United Methodist Church in Gastonia. Burial followed at Hollybrook Cemetery in Lincolnton.

Memorials may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.