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When he was a student at the Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School, some 45 years ago, Bob Gildea met Doug Rhodes.
Rhodes was dating Gildea's sister, Margaret, which was fine with her younger brother.
"He was smart, good looking and the star of the football team -- what every young kid wanted to be," Gildea, now superintendent of the Hollidaysburg Area School District, said Friday. "Needless to say, I thought he was pretty awesome."
Gildea's opinion never changed on the man who would become his brother-in-law and lifelong friend.
"Little did I know at the time that I would be idolizing him my whole life," Gildea said.
Rhodes passed away Wednesday night following a 17-year battle with brain cancer. He was 60.
After his playing days at Hollidaysburg, Rhodes went on to play football at Navy, starting two seasons on the offensive line, and following his Naval commitment, he served 20 years in the Marines.
He founded Pro-Active Sports, which distributed uniforms and gear, and coached on the Hollidaysburg football staff for many years.
Golden Tiger football coach and athletic director Homer DeLattre said Rhodes' passing is felt throughout the community.
"I mainly interacted with him at Pro-Active," DeLattre said. "His daughter played (Hollidaysburg) basketball, and I'd see him coming into the games and obviously (interacted) through the professional realm of ordering clothing and talking football. His wife was a booster member so I'd often see them together.
"He's definitely one of the most respected men I've heard about in the 10 years I've been here. From his playing days to his coaching days, you'd only hear positives about the impact he had in the community and on the football program."
Rhodes' youngest son, Luke, is the Indianapolis Colts' long snapper who enters his eighth NFL year, Hollidaysburg's first player to complete a full season.
Luke Rhodes drew inspiration from his father's struggle and loved making him proud.
"He instilled in me perseverance and the love of life," Luke Rhodes, who made the Pro Bowl in 2021, said in a December interview. "He wanted to see me succeed, and I'm proud to do some of those things ... and use the strength he's shown in my own life."
Doug attended all of Luke's college games at William & Mary and a number of Colts' games with Margaret, but as his condition deteriorated, he watched on TV and spoke with his son afterward.
"It was always nice to have him here in the stands," Luke said.
Friends will be received from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Hollidaysburg Church of the Brethren with a Celebration of Life planned for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the church. (Please see obituary on Page A4.)
"Doug possessed an unwavering moral code and never deviated from that code, even through his 17-year battle with terminal brain cancer," Bob Gildea said. "He was a mentor for me and countless others whose lives he blessed in his 60 short years of life."