Mrs. Rodes was born in Valdosta, Georgia, on July 3, 1943, the daughter of the late Hazel Rykard Pendleton and Alexis Runette Pendleton. After graduating from Valdosta State College she married and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and worked for the Georgia Department of Revenue. The family then moved to Franklin, Georgia, where she made a life changing move, and became a Social Worker for the Heard County Department of Family and Children Services. Later she served the senior community through the Chattahoochee Flint Regional Development Center. The kind and gentle care she afforded the children and senior citizens she supervised changed and in many cases saved the lives of those she served. After her children were grown she continued her life of service in Floyd County through the State of Georgia’s Early Childhood Intervention Program, from which she retired. She was a member of the Franklin First Baptist Church and loved worshiping with her children and grandchildren when her health permitted. Mrs. Sue was a kind and loving lady who put the happiness of other before her own. She was a loving mother and grandmother who doted on her two grandsons, Jordan and Drew. She will be missed by all who knew her.

She is survived by her daughter, Amber Cornelius of Dallas, TX.; son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Ginger Cornelius of Carrollton, GA.; grandsons, Jordan and Drew Cornelius also of Carrollton, GA; brother, Alan Pendleton (Linda) of Albany, GA.; brother-in-law, Michael S. Garwood of Tucker, GA.; former spouse and friend Bob Cornelius of Nashville, GA.; and a number of nieces and nephews.

Other than her parents she was preceded in death by one sister, Josephine Garwood, and one brother, Charles Pendleton.