Jo Lorraine “Lorrie” Rhodes || Obituary

Jo Lorraine “Lorrie” Rhodes, 79, of Paris, passed away on September 16, 2024, at Spring Lake Assisted Living in Paris after a long and fulfilling life.

Lorrie was born on January 16, 1945, in Paris to John Warren and Alva Jo Norton. She attended Holy Cross Day School and Paris High School. Lorrie was encouraged by her uncle, Dr. Joe Hillhouse, to go into nursing as a career, and she excelled at it.

She graduated from St Paul Hospital School of Nursing in Dallas as valedictorian of her class and continued her education at the University of Texas Austin where she earned her BSN. After working for a year in Denton, she opted to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Colorado. She then accepted a position at UT Health Science Center in San Antonio. There she met and married Paul Hegstad and they worked together for several years until they decided to move to Tempe, Arizona where Lorrie earned her PhD from Arizona State University.

Lorrie returned to Texas and began her 30-year career as a professor at UT Arlington School of Nursing. While there, she earned her Nurse Practitioner certificate and worked in a private practice specializing in geriatrics, in addition to teaching. She also co-authored a definitive book on pharmacology, which she updated as new drugs became available.

Lorrie married Lynn Rhodes in 2000 and moved to Paris while commuting to Arlington to teach and continue her Nurse Practitioner practice.

Lorrie loved needlepoint, and along with her mother, stitched many of the kneelers at Holy Cross Church. She also loved her embroidery group and always looked forward to their meetings. Most of all she loved her cats, and she had many, many of them during her lifetime.

Lorrie made friends throughout every phase of her life, and until Alzheimer’s disease took over, she kept in close contact with all of them.

Lorrie was predeceased by her parents, her husband Paul, and her husband Lynn.

She is survived by her cousins, Gerry Stevens of Fort Worth, Stephanie Bakintas of Grapevine, and Tom Blackstone and family of Florida.

Many thanks to her dear friends, Reinhard Lange, and Paula McVay, to Krista and the staff at Spring Lake Assisted Living and Morgan and staff at Waterford Hospice who took such good care of her during the last years of her life…

Cremation arrangements were under the direction of Fry-Gibbs Funeral Home. An inurnment service will be held at the columbarium at the Church of the Holy Cross (322 S. Church St, Paris, TX) on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 10 am.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Baby Gunn’s Animal Rescue (babygunns.org) or Lamar County Humane Association (310 Clement Rd, Paris, TX 75460).

Online condolences may be sent to the Rhodes family by visiting www.fry-gibbs.com