Ken Rhodie

Update: March 11, 2015

Kenneth B. Rhodie of Discovery Bay, a devoted husband, father and grandfather who created the first comprehensive internal communications program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, died on Feb. 2, 2015 following a nine-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 79.

Rhodie’s communication effort eventually became one of the most comprehensive in the Atomic Energy Commission/Energy Department community.

Rhodie was born and raised in Chicago and never lost his affection for the city or its sports teams, especially the White Sox. He met Joy, the woman who was to become his wife and lifelong companion, at Wilson Junior College in 1955. They were married in Chicago the following year. Rhodie then earned a journalism degree from the University of Illinois, and their son, Jeff, was born in 1958. 

Rhodie worked on trade magazines for Putman Publishing in Chicago before moving to California in 1968 and starting work at Lawrence Livermore. He was the editor of the first employee newspaper at the Laboratory, Newsline, first published in September 1970. In the early 1970s, he created the Communications Resources Office, which included professional writers and artists who could bring popular communications methods to the Laboratory and supplement a strong technical information program.   

Newsline evolved into both a magazine and a weekly bulletin. In addition, his office’s publications included The Quarterly and Management Newsnotes. In the years before the internet, his office produced a telephone news service and a television show. It offered multi-faceted communication campaigns to managers who needed to communicate with large numbers of employees on topics ranging from human resources to security.

In the 1990s, Rhodie was involved in redesigning the semi-technical Energy & Technology Review into an easier-to-read format, now called Science & Technology Review.

Rhodie was known for serving the needs of managers who were constantly under pressure to meet technical and operational goals, but he constantly sought ways to connect with rank and file workers in everyday language. He insisted on technical accuracy and high levels of professionalism while encouraging gentle humor such as the use of cartoon characters to convey serious messages. His communication campaigns earned honors from professional organizations such as the International Association of Business Communicators.

On a personal basis, Rhodie was friendly with everyone. He practiced diversity in hiring, managed with a constructive, collegial style and was sensitive to personal issues that people in his office might be facing. 

As important as work was to him, Rhodie remained a devoted family man. He and his son spoke every day, even after his son moved away and started his own family.  They loved to analyze every White Sox game and were thrilled in 2005 when the White Sox won their first World Series in 88 years.  

Once every week for 13 years, Rhodie and Joy traveled across the Bay to spend time with their granddaughter, Julia. That day became affectionately known as “Nana-Papa Day.” He and Julia published a book that they wrote together called “Julia’s Rose Garden,” illustrated by his sister-in-law.

Rhodie is survived by his wife, Joy; son, Jeff; daughter-in-law Debbie; and granddaughter, Julia.  A service was held in late February at the Gan Shalom Cemetery in Briones.