Rhoda Mae Rehlen, our caring, loving and fun loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great great-grandmother and friend passed away on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Rhoda was born to Charles Clifford DeRousse, Jr and Bernice Inez Lyons on August 18, 1936 in Granite City, Illinois.
Nanny, as she was known to many, was devoted to her husband Leonard Ray Rehlen who preceded her in death on August 4, 2014. She was also devoted to caring for her family and friends always ensuring that everyone had what she thought they needed whether that be a kind word, some advice, a hug or even groceries or any manner of food you could think of. She was a loving mother of Jeffery (Jeff) Rehlen and spouse Vicki of Pawhuska, OK and Cynthia (Cindy) Aughinbaugh and spouse Steve of Shady Shores, TX. She was very fond of her grand, great and great great-grandchildren; Jim, Jennifer, Colin, Cami, Jessica, Justin, Ashton, Ryean, Miles, Jaxon and Reagan.
Rhoda grew up in southern Illinois and soon met a dashing young man stationed at the Melvin Price Supply Depot in Granite City, IL. Rhoda and Leonard became lifelong companions. They moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1963 and raised a family near the aviation industry that became his career and she worked as a medical office manager specializing in cancer treatment. She was a Girl Scout leader and neighborhood mom to many. She always had a love for children. One of her last smiles was generated by Jack, the 4-year old from across the street that crawled up on her bedside stool to give her a kiss good night. She loved all, young and old.
Upon retirement, she supported many organizations including Tulsa Zoo volunteers, Tulsa International Airport information guides and various Tulsa area health services. Later, Rhoda and Leonard moved to live with Cindy and Steve Aughinbaugh in a residential airpark in Shady Shores, TX and volunteered in a number of activities around the airpark, church and community. She greatly enjoyed the community book club and bridge clubs through the Denton Senior Center and First United Methodist church. Family, travel and plain old domestic chores were all high on Rhoda's list of things to do. In fact, Steve, Cindy, Jeff and Vicki started calling her the laundry fairy because whenever Rhoda and Leonard would come for a visit, their clothing would magically appear on their beds clean and folded!
She was active with First United Methodist of Denton assisting others in many activities. Nanny and Poppy were always there to lend a helping hand to whoever needed it. She greatly enjoyed their annual anniversary trips to Las Vegas and Laughlin, NV where Rhoda and Leonard always seemed to be young and full of energy no matter how late the hour. They traveled the US as well as to Switzerland, Mexico and an Alaskan cruise.
She was preceded in death by her parents and is survived by a sister Gwen Poole.

Memorials may be made to American Cancer Society. Please use the form at: https://donate.cancer.org.