Honoring David Rhodes: Funeral Support Needed

Hello, my name is Messiah Rhodes,

I am heartbroken to share the news of my father’s passing. On Saturday night, November 2nd, while he was heading home from a gathering with friends, he suddenly had a massive heart attack and died in a taxi cab.

The news was particularly shattering because, after years of estrangement, we had finally begun to repair and mend our relationship. It had taken a lot of work on both of our parts, which included driving out to his house to pick him up to run errands or an upstate getaway, or to share a weekend brunch, or to visit the Veteran’s Cemetery where his own father, who he too had been estranged from, was buried.

Four years ago, I decided to pay for a search on Ancestory.com to learn more about my lineage and that of my parents and their parents before them. When we arrived at the cemetery, we stood at his father’s gravestone, and I knew we were well into our healing together, something I could never have imagined when I was 15, 21, or 30 years old.

On October 20th, my dad spent the morning after his 62nd birthday at my house, something he had never done in the past. We discussed cat-sitting our new cat, Liza, over the 2024 Thanksgiving holiday. He loved cats so much that he kept a cat carrier under his work desk for years "just in case. The closeness between us over the past few years had continued up until the night of November 2nd.

My father, David Rhodes, never wanted notoriety or power, even though he survived and surpassed deep hardships rooted in systemic racism and classism. He wanted nothing more than peace, happiness, and time with his small family and close-knit friends.

My father worked for over twenty years as a Duplication Production Coordinator at one of the largest professional services firms in the world. Yet, he has no real savings to show for it, no seed money to leave behind to his wife or his children, no money to pay for funeral services, nor a proper burial.

I can’t tell you how dehumanizing and demoralizing it is even to compose this GoFundMe request. The fact that intergenerational wealth does not exist for me, for my father, for his father, and for all the other black Americans who make up my community leaves me stunned. It is nearly impossible to describe the additional trauma of knowing what was stolen or kept from us over the course of centuries, even after such hard work and dedication.

The funeral arrangements will cost $20,440, which includes respectful treatment of his body, funeral service, and proper burial at Canarsie Cemetery on December 13th, 2024.

I’m so glad many have shared lovely memories of my dad. He was a warm and affectionate man. He possessed such a light and humor that I miss more during these dark times. We are all at a loss without him.

We appreciate your help so much.