Sam Stetzer/ Winonan

Richard Rhodes passed away in Winona alone, but the Winona community made sure he did not start an eternal afterlife alone.

Upon discovery of his remains mid-December and no initial family or friend contacts, his body was sent to Mayo Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, for an autopsy that came back with still no contacts for the man.

Rhodes is believed to have passed away between Thanksgiving and time of discovery mid-December.

The hospital sent his remains back to Hoff Funeral Home in Winona, where funeral director Brittany Horton decided this man’s story should not be left untold.

“He was in our community for 30 years and no one knew who he was,” Horton said.

Upon digging, Horton found that Rhodes was born in Sioux City, Iowa in 1941.

Rhodes had enlisted in the army in 1963 and served in Vietnam before being honorably discharged in 1969.

Rhodes filed for his discharge papers from the Army, saying they were lost during a move twice in the 1980s and claiming his residency at two different places in Winona.

Rhodes was also employed at Watkins in Winona during the middle 1990s. What else he was involved with during his time in Winona is unknown.

A man and his wife from La Crescent, Minnesota, who partake in forensic genealogy, found Rhodes had a sister who attended Iowa State University in 1960, but her whereabouts or whether she is still alive are unknown still.

Rhodes’s uncle also had two children who currently reside in California, and Horton is in the process of contacting them.

Horton said she is still digging into Rhodes’s background and calls collecting his data, “a work in progress.”

Horton called the Winona Veteran’s Affairs (VA) and American Legion Posts in Winona to spread the word about a man being buried with no friends or family present.

In the end, the results were overwhelming, Horton said. Approximately 100 people, military and community members, showed up to a funeral for a man they had never met.

It was just a story they heard.

Rhodes was buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery, where it was later discovered that he had an aunt buried there as well.

The cemetery donated his plot, which had been previously donated by an anonymous donor in Winona. The donor wanted to give the plot to a member of the military who passes away with no family, friends or connections, Horton said.

Rhodes was buried with full military honors, including a headstone and burial flag. Horton was presented with his flag at the burial, which she later donated to the Winona VA for them to practice flag handling skills with.

Raymond Shoup, a Private First Class in the Minnesota National Guard and a psychology major at Winona State University, said the veterans and military members who attended Rhodes’ funeral were acting on their bond of brotherhood.

“In the military we have a saying,” Shoup said. “It’s ‘one team, one fight.’ It doesn’t matter what you serve in, we all fight as a team. It’s sad that he died, because he was a brother.”

Shoup said the military community and the Minnesota community as a whole has a knack for coming together for each other, connecting to one another through the small town feel.

It wasn’t until the end of the burial, when Horton asked everyone to put their hand on the casket, that the first confidante of Rhodes was found.

“He was bawling,” Horton said. “He hugged me, and said ‘I knew Dusty. We worked together at Watkins.’”

Horton said the man described Rhodes, now known with the nickname Dusty, as a jokester who just liked to have fun.

Within minutes, Rhodes’ story had turned from an outline of a life to a lifetime with personality.

Horton said she could not let Rhodes’ story fall through the cracks. It just wouldn’t feel right.

“We believe everyone has a story,” Horton said. “He was someone’s friend and neighbor and to give him that dignity… It was mind-blowing and a nice community pull-together. I feel kind of blessed.”

Horton said she has only dealt with one other case of a body being found with no personal connections and a community connecting together as Winona had. Baby Angel was an infant found the Mississippi River and buried by Hoff Funeral Home. The story behind Baby Angel was never solved.

She said the community connection for Rhodes was a heartwarming end to the potentially tragic story.