Leslie Fern (Lamb) Rhodes

Leslie Lamb Rhodes, 67, died on Saturday July 1, 2023 at Randolph Hospice House in Asheboro, NC. She was born on January 9, 1956 and grew up in Asheboro, the youngest of three and the only daughter of Jim and Betty Fox Lamb.

Leslie was a Demon Deacon through and through. She earned her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University, her MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (on the old Wake Forest campus), and completed her CPE/Counseling residency through the Wake Forest Baptist School of Medicine. Leslie met and married her husband, Jim, while in seminary, and they spent their early married life in Winston Salem, both in WFU residencies. Leslie loved cheering on the Demon Deacons, especially from Deacon Hill in tacky black and gold tie dye.

Leslie was an ordained Baptist minister and spent her entire career at the Christian Counseling Center in Burlington, NC, providing faith-based counseling to her clients. She also used her ministerial background as a volunteer pastor at Twin Lakes Community in Burlington and as the wedding officiant for many dear friends and family members.

Leslie had a love of Seagrove pottery, colorful dishes, Radko Christmas ornaments, and almost anything with a chicken on it. She enjoyed collecting and displaying these treasures, whether there was shelf space for them or not. She was a Girl Scout troop leader; a Battle of the Books team chaperone; a cheerleader at orchestra concerts, soccer games, tennis matches, and school plays; and kept the most detailed, color-coded calendars of family commitments imaginable.

Leslie loved to travel. For one week each summer for the past 20+ years, Sunset Beach, NC was home, cooking up fresh seafood and working on her most recent knitting project. She adored Walt Disney World; It was Leslie and Jim’s honeymoon destination and the site of many family trips over the years. One of Leslie’s favorite Disney treats was the iconic dole whip float. In 2016 Leslie and Jim bought an RV and traveled coast-to-coast with it. The "Winnie" took them to Portland, along the Blue Ridge, to South Carolina for a solar eclipse, and more. Leslie documented every family trip and special occasion with her photography and scrapbooking hobbies, and her family is grateful she kept all these memories for them.

Leslie was preceded in death by her parents, and is survived by her husband James “Jim” Robert Rhodes; her daughters Emma Suzanne Rhodes, and Hannah Lee Rhodes; her brothers John "Johnny" David Lamb and Richard Joseph "Joe" Lamb (Lucy); and many cousins; nieces; and nephews.

No immediate service is planned at this time; the family will share details once a service is scheduled. If you would like to make a gift in Leslie’s memory, please consider one to Wake Forest University, Keyauwee Program Center, or Hospice of Randolph. WFU and Keyauwee both meant a great deal to Leslie, and her family is so thankful for all of Hospice’s support throughout her extended illness. If you have a special memory or story about Leslie, please share it with the family via the tribute wall.