Mr. Thomas Wallace Rhodes, of LaGrange, passed away on Jan. 25, 2019.  

Mr. Rhodes was born in LaGrange, Georgia, on Sept. 7, 1928 and was a lifelong resident of LaGrange.  He was educated in the LaGrange Public School System and was an honor graduate of LaGrange High School and Perry Business School.  He was employed for 25 years as the chief bookkeeper of the local branch of Rhodes Furniture Company.  After the store closed in 1978, he was employed by the Georgia Building Authority and retired as the executive director of the West Point Housing Authority in the administration of Mayor John C. Barrow. 

Mr. Rhodes served on the staffs of former Governors Lester Maddox, Jimmy Carter, Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller.  He was a long-time legislative aide to Lt. Governor Zell Miller and was a member of the State Board of Family and Children’s Services, the Board of Children and Youth and the Water and Waste-Water Boards of the State of Georgia. He co-managed the Troup County campaigns of Governor Lester Maddox and the State Treasurer Bill Burson for Treasurer and the United States Senate. 

He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Edna Mallory Rhodes, formerly of Harris County.  There are no other survivors. He was a member of the Methodist Church and a member of the Elks Lodge Number 1084 BPOE, where he served as secretary and treasurer for 36 years. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Troup County Humane Society. 

Graveside services were held on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, at 2 p.m. at the Salem United Methodist Church in Pine Mountain. Pastor David Adamson officiated. Higgins LaGrange Chapel Funeral Home, (706) 884-7117.