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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
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The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
Bruce Rhoads
BRUCE LEE RHOADS
Cedar Rapids
Bruce Lee Rhoads, 79, of Cedar Rapids, passed away Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, at Mercy Medical Center surrounded by his loving family. A private service will be held with the immediate family at this time followed by a Celebration of Life at a later date.
Bruce Lee Rhoads was born in Davenport, Iowa, on Nov. 28, 1941, the son of Harry Rhoads and Eileen (Brubaker) Bannick. Bruce grew up in MountVernon, Iowa, and attended Mount Vernon schools. During his time at Mount Vernon, he was active in the wrestling program. After moving to Cedar Rapids, he graduated from Jefferson High School. Bruce served in the Air Force as a young man during the Vietnam era and was a Cedar Rapids firefighter for 27 years. Bruce enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, rebuilding cars, watching the Hawkeyes play, feeding the birds, playing with his dogs, doing genealogy and being a jokester making people laugh.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Left to cherish Bruce's memories are his wife of 49 years, Karen (McCoy) Rhoads; daughter, Kimberly (Greg) Rule of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; daughter, Kendra (Karsten) Cook of Cedar Rapids; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and brothers, Ronald (Phillis) Rhoads of Green Bay, Wis., Jules (Mary) Ficke of Lancaster, Calif., Gary (Kay) Bannick of Omaha, Neb., and Greg (Janis) Rhoads of Illinois.
In addition to flowers, any memorial gifts can be sent via cards. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries.
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