D300 to remember school’s late founding principal
From Staff Reports December 7, 2012 5:18PM
Updated: January 10, 2013 6:36AM
The District 300 Board of Education will hold a moment of silence at its meeting Monday for the late founding principal of Dundee Highlands Elementary School in West Dundee.
Ronald R. Rhoades of East Dundee died at age 88 on Nov. 26, at Sherman West Court in Elgin, according to the website of the Miller Funeral Home in West Dundee.
Born in Seattle, Rhoades had lived in the Dundee area for the past 61 years, according to the funeral home.
That’s where he started his 31-year teaching career in Community Unit School District 300 as a teacher at Dundee Grade School in 1951, according to the district. He later became the first principal of Dundee Highlands when it opened in 1964, and he remained at the school until 1982.
Rhoades also was a U.S. Army veteran, serving in Europe and as part of the occupation troops in Japan, according to the funeral home.
He was an active member of the Dundee Lions Club for nearly 60 years, as well as a member of the Fox River Valley Rose Society, according to the funeral home. He also was a longtime member and elder at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in West Dundee, it said.
He had earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Northern Illinois Teachers College and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois, according to the funeral home.
Rhoades leaves behind his wife of 61 years, Jeanette; their three children; Patricia, Steven and Scott Rhoades; and six grandchildren, the funeral home said.
Memorial services were held Saturday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in West Dundee. Memorials also can be made to the church.
The District 300 Board of Education meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Westfield Community School, 2100 Sleepy Hollow Rd., Algonquin.
