JOHN K. RHOADS

John K. “Jack” Rhoads, 93, of DeKalb, Illinois, passed away Sunday, April 21, 2024, at his home.

 He was born July 11, 1930, in Reading, PA, the son of Len and Gertrude (Berger) Rhoads. John married Ruth Harris in 1960.

Jack was a graduate of Reading High School in Pennsylvania class of 1948. He graduated from Albright College in Reading in 1952 with a Bachelor’s degree.  He received his Master’s Degree from Case Western University in 1953 and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1960.

Jack was a Veteran of the US Army serving from 1953 to 1955. 

Jack was a teacher at the Menasha campus of the University of Wisconsin from 1960 to 1961. He taught at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana from 1961 to 1966. His primary employment was in the Sociology Department at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois where he and his wife Ruth (Harris) Rhoads worked from 1966 till 1998.

Jack was a social historian, and an award-winning teacher. In 1970 N.I.U. awarded him an “Excellence in Teaching” award. In his work years Jack‘s major interest was the writings of the famed German sociologist and historian Max Weber (1864 – 1920), whose theorizing permeated Jack’s scholarly work. Jack personally wrote these sociology texts:  Critical Issues in Social Theory (1991) DeMolay: and the Origin and Development of a Secret Society (unpublished thesis). His publications included a dozen journal articles and chapters in edited books. Jack’s university course titles included Practical Theory of Social Thought and Contemporary Social Theory.

He is survived by his cousins Virginia Procter of Vestavia, Alabama, Michael Steffy of Reading, Pennsylvania and Richard Steffy of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

He was preceded in death by his wife and his parents.

John will be buried next to his wife at Charles Evan’s Cemetery in Reading, PA. 

For information, visit www.AndersonFuneralHomeLtd.com or call 815-756-1022.

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