Fund Purpose
Provides support to the Harrison County Public Library to purchase and maintain printed materials, audio-visual media, furnishings and equipment, including software and computers.

Fund Story
Established as a memorial to her sister, Phyllis Rhodes has created the Marilyn M. Rhodes Memorial Fund at the Harrison County Community Foundation. This fund will lend support to the Harrison County Public Library to purchase materials, equipment, audio-visual media or furnishings.

Marilyn was born August 31, 1939 in Corydon, the daughter of the late Daniel and Gail Toler Rhodes. She lived in Corydon all her life. In 1957, during her senior year of high school, she worked half-days at the Old Capital Bank and Trust in Corydon. She retired December 1996 as a branch manager of the Spring Hill Branch, then called NBD, in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

“A big part of her life was her faith in God,” states Phyllis. Marilyn was a lifetime member of Heidelberg United Methodist Church near Corydon. She taught Sunday school class, coordinated and assisted with vacation bible schools, held various offices in the women’s group, and played the piano and organ. “She gave her best to all she did,” adds Phyllis.

Marilyn never married. She loved to do counted cross-stitch and belonged to a group that met monthly called Sit’ N Stitch. Marilyn liked to travel; she and her sister, Phyllis, were blessed to have visited approximately forty-four countries.  

“I believe Marilyn enjoyed reading the most.” Phyllis recalls, “As a child Marilyn, a friend, and I would walk to the Corydon Library. She would check out as many books as the librarian would allow her, which was never enough to please Marilyn.”

Marilyn was a caring and generous person; and wanted others to be able to enjoy life as she had. She always remembered that everything she had came through God.

Marilyn died September 2, 2009 at age 70 of muscular dystrophy. Through this fund, others will have the opportunity to discover the joy of reading.

Fund Impact:
2011: Supported educational purposes
2014: Purchased materials, equipment, and furnishings
2016: Purchased and maintained printed materials, audio-visual media, furnishings and equipment
2018: Purchased and maintained printed materials, audio-visual media, furnishings and equipment for the Harrison County Public Library