Robert E. Rhodes Jr., professor emeritus of legal ethics, died Nov. 25 at the age of 87, according to a University press release.
Rhodes arrived at the Notre Dame Law School in 1956 and since continued “teaching and writing in the areas of administrative law, civil procedure, ethics, jurisprudence, law and theology, legal history and welfare legislation,” the press release stated. He was also a member of the Catholic Commission on Intellectual and Cultural affairs.
“The many of us who loved him, loved him for his character as much as for his extensive and superb scholarship,” Nell Jessup Newton, dean of the Notre Dame Law School, said in a statement. “Bob was an essential part of Notre Dame Law School for more than 50 years. Though he retired earlier this year, he remained as intellectually vigorous and engaged as ever, most recently working on final touches of a book manuscript.”
Rhodes graduated from Brown University in 1947 and served in the U.S. Navy for two years before earning a law degree from Harvard, the press release stated. From 1952 to 1954, he worked at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, followed by two years on the Rutgers School of Law faculty. During the summers, he served as a clerk for the New Jersey Supreme Court.
A wake took place at Kaniewski Funeral Home on Dec. 1 from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and was followed with a funeral Mass at 3:30 p.m. in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
