Michael Dudley Rhoads

Michael Dudley Rhoads, a resident of Commerce for over 50 years, passed away peacefully on July 16, 2025, at the age of 79. A celebration of his life is to be held at First Baptist Church, Commerce, on Wednesday July 23rd, at 2:00PM.

He lived a remarkable life. His parents, Howard Rhoads and Marian Rhoads, were married by Billy Graham, and they became lifelong pen-pals. Mike, the second of five children, was born on October 13, 1945, in Norfolk, Virginia. As a Navy brat, he lived as a young child in Morocco, Panama, then Bermuda. While living in Panama, he was baptized in the Chagres River, while living in Bermuda he learned to sing God Save the Queen. His parents finally settled on St. Simons’ Island, where he attended Glynn Academy. One of his favorite stories to tell was a hitchhiking trip from St. Simons Island to Jacksonville, Florida, to visit the zoo. After two days of travel and camping on the side of the road, he and his brother arrived at the zoo about ten minutes before closing. Following high school graduation, Mike attended South Georgia college and then Georgia Southern, and then was drafted into the Vietnam War, where he served three tours of duty as a scrounger. During his last years of life, you could count on him proudly wearing his Vietnam Vet baseball cap and telling other Veterans thank you for their service.

After honorable discharge from Vietnam, Mike moved to Georgia and became smitten with a dark-haired middle Georgia woman, Ann Walters, while they worked together at a residential school for children. He and Ann married over 52 years ago in Eatonton, GA, and after marriage they flipped a coin to decide on whether to settle down in Jefferson or Commerce. The coin landed on Commerce, where they moved and first rented a house from Nathan Jay, of Jay’s Clothing. Mike and Ann both had a life-long gratefulness for the kindness Nathan showed them when they moved to Commerce.

Mike started Rhoads Auto Supply, a parts business out of the basement of the family house, where Ann still lives, and they grew the business to distribute products all over North Georgia. As a father, Mike taught his kids hard work, paying them substantially below minimum wage to sweep warehouse floors, pick up cigarette butts from gravel parking lots, and help make windshield washer fluid and anti-freeze. In the mid-1990s, a fire at the warehouse was devastating and was large enough to be filmed by the Channel 2 news helicopter. Mike and Ann both worked hard to rebuild from the ashes.

While growing the family business, Mike was involved in the Commerce Jaycees, the Commerce Kiwanis, and was a deacon for the First Baptist Church of Commerce and loved singing in the choir. He was one of the founding board members of the Banks-Jackson County Food Bank, which he supported for the remainder of his life. He was proud of his daughter, Chris, for being a Star Student at Commerce High School, and of his son, Bill, for getting haircuts. Mike proudly wore sweatshirts from his kids’ schools including Emory, UGA, and Wisconsin.

Following retirement, Mike and Ann traveled the world, sometimes with family, sometimes alone. He would float in Caribbean waves for hours at a time and enjoyed teaching his children and oldest grandchildren how to body surf the waves at Edisto Island. When not in the waves, he’d be fishing on a pier, enjoying talking with other fishermen as much as the actual fishing itself.

On a trip to Kenya, Mike was impressed with the Maori culture. Following that trip, he consistently donated money to install better water access for rural Kenyans, including the Maori. While at his house, Mike enjoyed sipping a rum and Coke while feeding his ducks, cutting his grass, and watching neighborhood kids fish in his pond. He could often be found at Commerce Drug Store, enjoying a boiled egg and a coffee.

Mike loved nothing more than having grandchildren, and they knew him as “Pops.” Every grandchild’s first Christmas present was a wrapped, empty toilet paper roll, because the unwrapping was always the best part. He’d routinely yell “kick the ball down the field” at grandson Lucas’s soccer matches, while he’d make sure granddaughter Elena’s basketball coach knew the team should play defense and not pass the ball to the other team. Granddaughters Cora and Brynn were his favorite snuggle buddies, and he would save his best winks and silly facial expressions for them. His eyebrows were his super-power, and the genetics to his children are strong in that regard.

Mike leaves behind his loving wife, Ann Walters Rhoads. They loved each other through thick and thin, for better or worse. They created a beautiful garden together, with Ann being the brains and Mike being the brawn. Many in Commerce have received swapped flower bulbs, flowers, or tomatoes from their hard work together.

Mike is survived by his son, Bill Rhoads, and his daughter, Chris Baker, as well as his grandchildren, Elena, Lucas, Cora, and Brynn. He took every opportunity he could to tell his grandchildren how to catch a shark. It starts with a chicken heart.

Mike is also survived by his sisters, Millie Carol and Mary Morgan. He was preceded in death by his parents, Howard Lamar Rhoads and Marian Dudley Rhoads, and his brothers, Howard Rhoads and Ron Rhoads.

He loved his family, he loved God, he loved his community, and he loved his country. If anyone would like to make donations in his name, please make them to the Banks-Jackson Food Bank or the First Baptist Church of Commerce.