John Stewart Rhoades

JOHN S. RHOADES

John Stewart Rhoades, 78, originally from New York and a Santa Fe resident for 45 years, died March 2nd at home surrounded by his family. He had been struggling with cancer for twenty years under the compassionate care of the Santa Fe medical community.
John, despite the confusing variety of jobs he held, would call himself primarily an educator. He attended the Buckley School, St. Marks, the University of Pennsylvania, and finished with a doctorate from the UMass School of Education. Whether it was a tennis-ball-and-flashlight impromptu lesson on solar eclipses, managing the creation of a complex museum exhibit, or drawing in the sand with his boatman's pliers to map out the next river rapid, he was always engaged with learners, be they deeply involved or just politely bored. His careers found him in the diverse areas of high school and college classroom teaching, athletics coaching, teacher and school administrator training, non-profit-organization coaching and consulting, working as an Outward Bound instructor and administrator, and his last passion, as director of the Bradbury Science Museum. He was happiest when he was outdoors, taking his kids, friends and their families on river trips, motorcycling about the west on his faithful BMW, or walking with his true love Michele, and their always-eccentric dogs in the woods behind Santa Fe.
John is survived by his wife Michele Craig, originally of Baltimore; his daughter Caitlin, Santa Fe; and his son Justin, Los Angeles; and his sisters Susan Repko of Scottsdale and Lynne Stewart of Riverside, Connecticut.
So as to avoid contributing to the effects of the pandemic, no public service will be held at this time. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Christus St. Vincent Cancer Center.