Elizabeth Collins Rhoades, beloved wife, mother and mentor, passed away on May 5, 2020. Betty was born July 8, 1926, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., as the youngest daughter of Walter Upper Collins and Mary Elizabeth Searle.
She graduated from Antioch College in 1949 and went on to her lifetime career of teaching and counseling. She began with kindergarten in Oak Ridge, Tenn., from 1949-52, during which time she received an MA degree from George Peabody College for Teachers. She then went to Japan in 1953-54 as a primary grade teacher at the Army Dependents School in Nara. In 1954 she returned to California, where she spent the rest of her career in various school districts. In 1964 she received an MS degree from California State University East Bay in Child Psychology and Development.
Afterward she was a Psychologist with the Alameda Unified School District for ten years and then with the Peralta Community College in Alameda, working with students with disabilities.
Her final service was with Vista Community College (now City College) in Berkeley as Dean of Student Services, retiring in 1991.Among her activities she was Chair of the Board of the Berkeley Humane Society and Chair of the National Women’s Political Caucus in Alameda County, working tirelessly to elect women to office locally and statewide.
She loved travel and photography, to which she devoted her time after retirement. She moved to Beaverton, Ore., in 2011 and, after a long illness, passed away May 5, 2020. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, William Rhoades; her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Rhoades; and her son-in-law, Stephen Kekule of Hillsboro. Please sign the online guest book at oregonlive.com/obits