Beloved TAMIU English Faculty Member, Dr. Frances Gates Rhodes, Dies
Texas A&M International University president Dr. Pablo Arenaz shared news this week of the passing of longtime TAMIU faculty member Dr. Frances Gates Rhodes, associate professor, College of Arts and Sciences, department of Humanities, due to complications of COVID-19.
“Dr. Rhodes, or as most of us better knew her, ‘Panchita,’ was a beloved faculty member here. She was a passionate advocate for her discipline, for her students, for her colleagues and for this University. The students and graduates she inspired easily number in the thousands. In her passing, we lose a gifted and special educator and friend. Respected by her students, colleagues and all who were fortunate to be part of her ever-widening orbit, her dynamic presence here will be much missed,” Dr. Arenaz said.
Rhodes, who retired this past May after some 38 years of service, was an associate professor of English, former chair and, at the time of her retirement, a senior lecturer.
She had the distinction of being a former Laredo State University graduate who would return to become a faculty member in the very classrooms that helped mold her academic pursuits.
Originally from Eagle Pass, she earned a BS in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in English Education from the former Laredo State University.
Under the LSU tutelage of her mentor, the late Dr. F. Allen Briggs, she was encouraged to continue her education and would go on to earn a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin.
She returned to Laredo in 1982 as a visiting instructor as she completed her Ph.D. She would also teach at Southern Methodist University, UT-Austin, and the Austin Independent School District. She also taught at Western Oregon State College, Eagle Pass Independent School District and the Holding Institute.
At LSU and TAMIU, she took tremendous pride in teaching classes that Dr. Briggs had first initiated, infusing each with her characteristic commitment and wit.
In addition to her research in linguistics, her research expanded to include children’s literature, especially that of the Holocaust, young adult literature, language in contact and the importance of storytelling. Completely bilingual in English and Spanish, she was a frequent guest in Laredo and Eagle Pass classrooms for children’s reading programs, and a lifelong advocate for the importance of folklore study.
Active in the University’s Faculty Senate, she served as Faculty Ombudsman for the Faculty Senate, as a sponsor for Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, among others.
She still somehow found time to pursue other interests, including helping to found the Knit and Wit Society, a group dedicated to crochet, embroidery, knitting, and conversation; not exactly in that order.
“We have great fun, great conversations, great projects, great food, and a lot of loving sisterhood and support in times of trouble as well as joy, ” she recently remarked.
Throughout the years, Knit and Wit members have contributed to several international, national, and local organizations, including knitting caps for newborns in Asia, Africa and Latin America via Caps for Good; quilt squares for blankets for AIDS patients in South Africa; blue and red scarves for the Special Olympics; purple caps, scarves, booties, and ninja dolls for the Purple Stitch Project; scarves for Navajo elders, and caps for foster children in the Austin area. She joined members in a special magazine feature this past December in The Laredo Morning Times’ D’vino Magazine.
One of her proudest accomplishments was her leadership in helping to establish the Dr. F. Allen Briggs Folklore Collection at the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.
Her thoughts offered at the Collection’s 2009 dedication now strongly echo her own stellar contributions at LSU and TAMIU. Then, she noted Briggs’ inspiration was that of, “someone who had great wisdom, great passion for his profession and a great heart for his students… a role model for us all.”
Rhodes is survived by her two adult children, Bianca Rhodes Spies and Christian Gates Spies and her grandchildren Christa Gates Spies, Abigail Ruth Spies, and Carson Spies Ehresman. Services are pending and a memorial is planned at a future time.
