R. Lee Rode

Dr. R. Lee Rode, 88, passed away on January 17, 2011 at a local hospital in Abilene, TX. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 20, 2011 at St. Paul United Methodist Church with Dr. Eduardo Rivera and Rev. Pam Rowley officiating. A private family burial will be held at Elmwood Memorial Park Cemetery prior to the memorial service. Arrangements are by The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road. Dr. Rode was born in San Antonio, Texas to Leonard John Rode and Ella Pluenneke Rode on July, 2, 1922. He graduated from high school in 1940 in San Benito, Texas. He married Elizabeth Ann Armen on December 24, 1943 in Milford, Texas. He met Ann at the University of Texas (Pre-Med) which he attended for three years before entering medical school at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He served in the Army from 1943-1946. He graduated from Baylor Medical School in Houston, Texas in 1946. He did a sixteen month internship in Youngstown, Ohio, and then it was back to Houston for three years to do his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Rode practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 42 years in Abilene, Texas. He delivered over 11,000 babies during his career as a medical doctor. He was a member of American Medical Association, American College of Surgeons, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Texas Medical Association, Texas OB/Gyn Association, West Texas OB/Gyn Association, a past board member of the Texas Obstetrics and Gynecology Association and an elected member of the Central Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and on the screening board for candidates for the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Rode also served as president of the Taylor-Jones-Haskell Counties Medical Society and chief of staff at Hendrick Medical Center. In December, 1981 he was awarded the Gold Headed Cane Award from the Taylor-Jones-Haskell Medical Society, the society's highest award. Dr. Rode was also on the board at Disability Resources Incorporated. He was a member of the Propheteers Sunday School Class at St. Paul United Methodist Church. Dr. Rode came from a German Ranching family. He and Ann shared an interest in ranching which led to the purchase of their ranch near Buffalo Gap, Texas. He was very active in the Polled Hereford business and was a member and past president of the West Texas Polled Hereford Association and the Texas Polled Hereford Association. He received Reserved Champion Female at the Fort Worth Stock Show in 1965. Dr. Rode was president of the West Texas Fair for two years and served on the Taylor County Historical Society and Abilene Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Texas Historical Foundation Board of Directors serving once as president. Dr Rode had a great love for history therefore the Buffalo Gap old jail and courthouse caught his eye. He purchased the historic jail and courthouse and restored it to become Buffalo Gap Historic Village which he ran for 22 years. Dr. Rode was preceded in death by his parents Rev. L.J. and Ella Rode, his brother L.J. Rode, Jr., two sisters Willie Mae Neibuhr and Jean Darnold, and his granddaughter Elizabeth Ann Murfee. Dr. Rode is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Ann Rode; two daughters, Carol Moore and husband Jake of Abilene; Patty Murfee and husband George of Austin; three grandchildren, Cindy Champlin of Lubbock, Jeff Moore and wife Stacey of Flower Mound, Mary Kathryn Gibson and husband David of New Braunfels; four great grandchildren; Kylie and Brady Moore, Chase Champlin, and Megan Gibson, and five nieces and one nephew. Dr. Rode will always be remembered as a compassionate and dedicated doctor, a man who loved history and his ranch, and more important, a devoted husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend to many. Memorials may be given to St. Paul United Methodist Church, 525 Beech St., Abilene, Texas, 79601, or the Elizabeth Ann Murfee Fund for Brain Cancer Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center, PO Box 4486, Houston, Texas 77210-4486. The family would like to thank the Hendrick Hospice Unit at Hendrick Medical Center for their care and concern during this time.