KILMARNOCK—Rhoda Jean O’Meara Stackhouse of Kilmarnock, beloved wife of William Keith Stackhouse, passed into eternal life on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Sunday, May 17, 2026, at the age of 87.
On May 1, 1939, Georgia (Logan) and William O’Meara lovingly welcomed Rhoda to the world, and to their Chicago home. A singularly kind and gentle soul was given by God to carry His Light and Joy to whomever she met. And that, she did.
Soon, the family moved to her “true” hometown, Norwood, Ohio, totally inside Cincinnati. Most notably, she met her future husband Bill, who was in the same fifth grade class. Their “first date” was on a YMCA-sponsored hayride. They were nine and 10.
They grew up. Bill graduated from the Air Force Academy and Rhoda from Ohio University, where she majored in speech and language therapy, her passion. In June, 1965, Bill and Rhoda began nearly 61 years of a beautiful marriage.
Bill served in the Air Force as a pilot and, of course, after Bill had volunteered for Vietnam, they were sent to Ramstein, Germany, just following their honeymoon. Not content to stay at home, she approached the Ramstein American Schools and convinced them they needed a speech therapy program. They allowed her to try. It was a success and her program was adopted throughout the entire European system. She founded Speech Therapy in all American schools in Europe. Georgia Lona (Francis, married to Ray) was born there in 1967. Their extended honeymoon ended in 1969 and they moved to California where Jeanette Meade (Clark, married to Jason) was born in 1970. No children could be more grateful at the wonder, beauty, and goodness of their mother than Georgia and Jeanette.
Rhoda should have had 20 children, with all of the love that flowed from her heart. Instead, she worked as a truly gifted speech therapist, where her patients received the full measure of her motherly care and professional expertise. She adored her co-workers and the children she worked with. She loved her friends from those years, and often spoke of them, sometimes recalling those happy times with greater detail than she could the events of the day in which she was actually living.
Of all the thousands of children she knew, seven were her favorites: Georgia’s children, Joseph and Elizabeth Gardner, and Jeanette and Jason’s children, Michael, Christopher, Benjamin, Dominic and Catherine Clark. Her legacy of love will flow on through her grandchildren, each of whom had a unique and precious relationship with their beloved Grandma. They will never forget how Grandma Rhoda always had freshly baked cookies, a fully stocked refrigerator with soft drinks, and peanut M&Ms at the ready for them.
We take great consolation in knowing that, upon Rhoda’s entry into Heaven, she was greeted not only by her preceding parents, friends and two nephews, John O’Meara and Alan Rooch, but also by her own first child and eight grandchildren all of whom who were born into eternal life before they took a breath here on earth.
She spent a career working in the Montgomery County Public School System in Maryland and retired. Bill began work on her forever house in the Northern Neck and she took to walking six miles a day there. Soon she began carrying a bag to pick up roadside refuse. Not having her own house yet, she became known affectionately by those along the way as “the Homeless Bag Lady.” Her efforts received attention and she was featured in the Keep Virginia Beautiful, Adopt a Highway publication. Restless to do something again, she emerged from retirement and signed up to teach speech in the Lancaster Public School System. The deputy superintendent of schools did the credential check and found she was one of three with her qualifications in the entire state. She taught for 12 more years, retiring at 77.
Wherever she lived, Rhoda delighted in her Catholic faith. Her friends from Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna, and later, St. Francis de Sales in Kilmarnock, became like family to her. She joined the Woman’s Club and Bible study groups, helped with the Girl Scouts, and served at the spaghetti suppers. Most importantly, she worshipped the Living God on her knees every Sunday, rejoicing in the sublime gift of receiving her Divine Bridegroom in Holy Communion. This was the center of the heart of Rhoda Stackhouse. We know she would want this little missive to include a gentle invitation to all to attend Sunday Mass.
Meike Hasnoot was her dearest friend, and truly a member of the family. They found each other during Rhoda’s SOLO year in Europe, when both showed up at a boat party in Holland wearing identical dresses. From then on their friendship was cosmically cemented. They spent their time together roaring with laughter, and delighting in the good things of life and love. They lived on different continents, but their hearts beat together. When they would finally see each other again, they simply picked up where they left off, usually with a glass of Chardonnay, and of course, lots of laughter. We are honored that Rhoda has left us with a second mother in Meike.
One cannot think of Rhoda without Bill. They gave each other their whole lives. They lived every syllable of the vows they promised to each other, and that has been the greatest of gifts to their children and grandchildren. If a successful marriage can be defined as two human beings determined to be one, then their marriage was one of the greats. In the end, Bill’s service to his “Bride,” as he called her, was nothing short of heroic. Even now, we sense her wanting the world to know how very much she loved her beautiful husband, and what an honor it was to be his wife.
In your mercy, please offer prayers, Masses and rosaries for Rhoda O’Meara Stackhouse, now part of the Communion of Saints in Heaven. “I give you a new commandment, says the Lord: love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Rhoda embodied that commandment. She is preceded in death by nobody in her immediate family, which is a very Rhoda thing to do. She will, we are certain, spend her Heaven interceding for us until we’re all safely together in Heaven. And then she will be there, with her radiant smile, welcoming us into the Father’s House, our one true home.
Rhoda is survived by her husband, two daughters, seven grandchildren, three brothers, seven nieces and nephews as well as three step-siblings whom she adored, Edward (Maureen) Rooch, Sarah Roberts and Jane (Dave) Anderson.
There will be a viewing from 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 29, at Currie Funeral Home, 116 East Church Street, Kilmarnock. The funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 154 East Church Street, Kilmarnock, followed by burial in the church cemetery. All are welcome at a reception in the Church Hall immediately afterwards.
