CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — Opelika resident Guy Rhodes has been recognized through a resolution from the Alabama Senate following his retirement after more than 50 years as a journalist. The resolution was presented to Rhodes by District 27 State Sen. Billy Beasley of Clayton in Bullock County.
Rhodes was managing editor of the Opelika-Auburn News for 17 years until 1990. He retired in 2025 after 31 years as editor and publisher of The Tuskegee News. The resolution points out that under his leadership, The Tuskegee News received more five dozen awards for excellence from the Alabama Press Association. Rhodes was personally honored with 36 awards from the APA for reporting and commentary columns.
The Auburn University Journalism Foundation recognized Rhodes as the Distinguished Alabama Community Journalist in 2013.
A 1969 journalism graduate of Auburn University, Rhodes served as business manager of the award-winning Auburn Plainsman, alongside editor David Housel, who later served as athletic director for Auburn University. Housel and Rhodes worked in the athletic department as student assistants when Ralph “Shug” Jordan was head football coach.
While a student at Auburn, Rhodes was selected for Phi Eta Sigma scholastic honorary, ODK leadership honorary and Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) social fraternity.
After college, Rhodes went on to serve as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1970-72 during the Vietnam War era.
The Senate resolution mentions Rhodes’ work with the youth and community service.
It reads, “He [Rhodes] has shown profound commitment to youth development through decades of service to Dixie Youth, Dixie Boys and Dixie Majors programs in Opelika, including coaching nine all-star teams in 13 years of coaching and 30 years as a commissioner with the program. He served as chairman of the 1994 Dixie Youth State Tournament Committee and was honored through the dedication of ‘Guy Rhodes Field’ at West Ridge Youth Baseball and Softball Complex in Opelika.”
As a 17 year old, Rhodes was a member of the Pensacola, Florida team that won the Dixie Majors World Series played in Kilgore, Texas, and also played on the last freshman baseball team at Auburn.
“He has also served his community with the American Red Cross, the Achievement Center, his church (as a deacon in the Baptist Church), and numerous civic initiatives,” the Senate resolution reads.
His wife, Elaine, is a retired vice president with the former Charter Bank, where she managed branches in Opelika and Auburn. She also worked with Bank of East Alabama/AmSouth Bank for 25 years.
The Rhodes family has a history of four generations of students attending Auburn University, including Rhodes’ daughter Merry Jones Cuervo and her husband Buddy live in Fortson, Georgia; and Scottie and his wife Jen live in Auburn; and his son Jason and his wife Tiffany resides in Opelika.
Merry taught many years at Smiths Station High School before retiring as head of the Science Department at Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City.
Rhodes’ brother Charlie is a retired four-term district attorney for Jackson County; his brother Mike is a retired veterinarian in Dade City, Florida; and his sister Amanda’s husband, Bill, is president and owner of an engineering company in Marietta, Georgia.
Rhodes’ brothers and sister graduated from Auburn University in June of 1974, the first time three siblings had graduated from Auburn on the same day. Rhodes’ father, Robert Guy Rhodes Jr., graduated from Auburn in 1946 after returning from World War II, where he was an officer in the 101st Airborne Division.
