Funeral services for Virginia Rhoades will be at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, May 4, 2023, in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel.

Virginia Rhoades passed away Friday, April 28, 2023 at age 71, surrounded by loved ones. She is so loved.

Virginia was born Virginia Diaz Valdez on June 7, 1951 in Orange, California to Eloisa Diaz and Alcario Valdez. She grew up with many brothers and sisters, including Paul, Miguel, William, Connie, Terry, and Carol and her husband, Roy. She experienced the great loss of her parents and a few of her siblings early in her life, and she carried this with her, motivating her dedication to her loved ones throughout her life. She is greeted in Heaven by her parents, many of her siblings and siblings-in-law, and several of her close friends.

While she lived in California, she had her son, Manuel, and daughter, Monica Susan. In the early 70s, she moved with her children to Fairbanks, Alaska. There she met Duston Rhoades, with whom she married and had her final child, Dusty Rene. They all lived together in Alaska for 8 years, moved to Texas for a few years, and finally settled in Oklahoma. Even after she and Duston divorced in the early 1990s, they remained close friends throughout the rest of her life.

In Oklahoma, she raised her family and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which she valued highly for the emphasis on community and family they provided. She became a nurse in 1986, where she channeled her passion for caring for everyone around her for the next 39 years. She had a long and storied career at Comanche County Memorial Hospital, working in the emergency department and postpartum care. Her compassion was so immense, she was the recipient of a Daisy award, an award for "extraordinary compassionate care being provided by a nurse". A patient nominated her and wrote about her experience with Virginia as her nurse after her labor. When Virginia received the award, she read the nomination and didn't remember that patient. She felt badly about that, but it was another reminder to us that extraordinary compassion was ordinary for Virginia.

She met Randall Duvall in 1993, and they remained dedicated and affectionate partners for the next thirty years. They shared a love for country music, the Tazmanian Devil, getting beers at the bar with their friends, and their canine children Godfrey, PeeWee, Harley, Bones, and Tinkerbell.

Virginia was an excellent cook, with family-famous tamales, potato salad, and green pork. She loved to craft, with great talent in painting, cup making, and sewing. She loved to make things for everyone around her, even if she underplayed how great these things were. She adored animals, especially hummingbirds and dogs. She loved country music, taking pictures on her iPad, and connecting with friends and family on Facebook. Her compassionate and giving nature was obvious, but she was also funny, a maker of silly voices, a lover of jukeboxes and an absolute treasure.

She was a devoted, loving, and great mom to her children: Manny Martinez, Monica and her husband Beau Lynch, and Dusty and her husband Stephen Strange. She was a dedicated and affectionate partner to Randy, and she loved his sons, Phillip and Anthony Duvall. She was a Mimi to her grandchildren, LeeAnn Martinez, Rolando "Manny" Galban, Shelby (and Brandan) Parker, Jacob Strange, Jared Strange ( and Kassidy Longoria), and Amber (and Clark) Bulleit.  They couldn't have felt more loved. She was a Gigi to her great grandchildren, Holsten, Ava, Kain, Micah, Jenelle, and Juliet. Again, she was the best. She loved her nieces and nephews, Lee Charles, Lisa, Melanie, Melinda, Dori, Michelle, Bubba, Kristen, Gretchen, Gordon, Lyzette, Rebecca, and Angela and all of their spouses and children. She was the backbone of her family, and wanted to include everyone in it, forever. Family was her highest priority, including the bonus family she created for herself from the uncountable friends she made throughout her life.

Knowing a person like Virginia is a blessing, and her presence with us here on earth will be deeply, deeply missed. Though it is painful to lose her, knowing her, the love she gave, and the memories we have are a gift and make it all worthwhile.