EISENBISE, RODNEY CARL "ROD," 80 , formerly of Colby, KS passed away on April 30, 2023, at his home in El Dorado after a battle with cancer. Rodney was born on June 17, 1942, in Stafford, KS; the eldest of seven children; to Eugene and Edith {Nickey} Eisenbise. Rod's family moved to Garden City when he was young, and he attended school there graduating from high school and always calling Garden City "home." McPherson is where Rod began his college education on a music scholarship. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech, Drama and Language Arts and later a master's in communication from Shippensburg State College in Pennsylvania.

After leaving McPherson Rod moved to Goodland where he taught Speech and Debate at the high school. Rod and his family then moved to Atwood where he was a media specialist for the school system. Rodney later operated his first wife's family farm in Quinter after her father passed away.

Rod also worked in Colby working for the Colby Community College and then KS Groundwater Management where he met Jo Holmgren. They were married in 1986 and then moved to Hershey, PA to be closer to Rod's family there. In PA Rod was an Independent Meat Broker and worked in construction until 1990 when he and Jo moved back to Atwood to work for State Farm Insurance and later had his own agency with Farmers Insurance in Colby.

Rod retired from Farmers but continued working as an Independent Agent until last year when he retired again and moved to El Dorado to be closer to his son's family. Rod looked forward to spending time fishing and working in the shop with his great grandchildren.

Insurance was what Rod did for a living, but he found passion and creative joy in woodworking, especially turning wood on his lathe. Rod's musical abilities were put to effective use when he found another passion and many friends in Barbershop singing; being a part of the Tumbleweed Chorus in Colby. Rodney was the chorus director for a period of time after attending Harmony College. Rodney, as a young adult, was even once offered a contract with RCA Records.

Rod will be remembered as a man with strong opinions, but he was very compassionate and was always willing to help somebody in need. Rodney is survived by his wife Jo; son Lee Eisenbise (Charolette); daughter Melissa Norton (Brian); grandchildren Ryan Jones(Kelsey), Brandon Norton and Allison Norton; great grandsons Collin and Landon Jones; siblings Sondra Simmons(Ben), Sylvia Lehman(Bob), Jeff Eisenbise(Becky), Nicki Eisenbise(Nancy) and Scott Eisenbise(Kris); many nieces, nephews, other family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Eugene and Edith and his sister Janet Overly.

There will be a memorial service held at Heritage Funeral Home, 206 E. Central, El Dorado at 10:00 am on Saturday June 3rd. Individuals who are unable to attend in person may also join the service at that time using the following link Funeral . and by visiting our facebook page .