Rhoda R Glock

Rhoda Rae Helvey Glock died June 14, 2019, after a life full of love, family, and travel. Born to Harrison and O’Linda Wirth Helvey on September 25, 1918 in Martel, Nebraska, she was raised in Lincoln. There, while singing in the church choir, she met the love of her life, John Glock. John trained in Corpus Christi to serve as a U.S. Navy pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II. She traveled to marry him at the chapel of the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station on October 10, 1942.

After the war, Rhoda and John started their family in Nebraska, where John served as Superintendent of Schools in Clay Center and Newman Grove. They moved to Kingsville in 1955, after John received his doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska. In Kingsville, John became a professor and later Dean of the College of Education at what would become Texas A&I University. Rhoda graduated from A&I in 1964 and taught English Literature to students at Gillett Middle School and H.M. King High. She and the family were active members of Kingsville’s First United Methodist Church. All four of the Glock children--Jody, John, Janice, and Jim--received degrees in education from A&I and went on to have long careers themselves as teachers. Rhoda and John avidly supported the Texas A&I Javelinas, traveling with Gil Steinke’s winning football team to Europe and Hawaii for exhibition games and holding season tickets for many years. After retirement, the couple toured the contiguous US and Canada in their Tioga RV, and traveled abroad to Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

Rhoda, who played piano and sang in groups with her sisters and friends growing up, loved music and literature and demonstrated the value of education to her children and their families. She also modeled grace, bravery, and pragmatism, moving herself and John closer to children Jim and Janice in Deer Park, Texas, when John’s health struggles called for more care. He died in 2005 and Rhoda continued to make a life for herself in Deer Park, until Hurricane Harvey’s flooding finally led to her moving inland, to be close to children John and Jody in Austin.

Rhoda was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, John, brothers Edison and Sterling, and sisters Phyllis, Ann, and Jean. She is survived by children Jody (Bill), John (Anais), Janice (Jim), and Jim (Karen), six grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends. Her centennial birthday celebration brought together family and friends from around the world last year, a cherished opportunity to recognize Rhoda and the generation from which she hailed.

The family will lay Rhoda to rest next to John at a graveside service at Seaside Memorial Park Cemetery at 4357 Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi on Friday, June 21, at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the John W. Glock Memorial Scholarship at Texas A&M-Kingsville’s College of Education, Kingsville’s First United Methodist Church, or the charity of your choice.