Rodney Eatherly was born November 5, 1966, in Paris, Texas. He was the oldest son of Richard and Virginia Malone Eatherly.
He passed away Friday, September 23rd, at the age of 55 years.
He is survived by his parents, a brother Richard Geron Eatherly and wife Kitty Luna Eatherly, a sister Rhonda Gail Eatherly LaCaze and husband Danny LaCaze, nieces are Jordan LaCaze VanDerSchaaf and husband Nathan, children Preston, Kayleigh and Hayden, Brianna LaCaze Penn and daughter Kyleigh, and Rebekah LaCaze, nephews are Geron Eatherly and Colton Eatherly.
Family, this one thing I know. It does not matter how young/ old, sick / well, sudden or prolonged the departure. When you love someone, the time of them leaving us never seems right.
Rodney grew up in the Clardy Community and attended Bethel Baptist Church, where he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the early age of 9 years and his pastor, Dr. L.C. Stout, baptized him.
He attended Deport Elementary and Prairiland High School. In high school, his goal was to become an Army Ranger. He joined the Delayed Entry Program during high school. After graduating, he joined the Army. After his basic training, he was transferred to Ft. Lewis, Washington, where he trained as Single Channel Radio Operator.
He filed papers to become part of the Special Forces, when his orders came down, he could go with the Rangers or Green Beret, he chose the Green Beret. He also has Basic Airborne training, and when he left the service on March 21, 1993, he was a Sergeant.
After his tour of duty, he came back to further his education at Paris Junior College. He then went to East Texas State University and finished his 4-year degree in 2 years.
He worked in Bonham as a Sports Writer and later became Editor of their local paper until it closed. Then he moved to South Texas and worked as Director of Social Services at Cypress Woods Care Center in Angleton, then to Matagorda Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bay City where he worked 20 years.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Red River Valley Veterans Memorial. rrvvm.org
Bright-Holland Funeral Home has scheduled services for 10:00 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 6th at the Evergreen Chapel of Evergreen Cemetery with Jason Bounds officiating. The family will receive friends from 5 -7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
To leave a message or tribute for the family please visit www.brighthollandfuneralhome.com
