‘My father always told me that if I wanted to get my own way, I had to be nice to people,’ joked Rose Rhodes, longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, who died at home on April 24. She was 100, though that was small consolation to her friends and neighbors, who’d hoped she’d live forever. Rose, as she was known by all her devot’es, young and old, was born in China, the daughter of a metallurgist, and grew up in a world that no longer exists. She was expelled from school for ‘naughtiness,’ but studied Russian assiduously from an exiled prince, in order to earn her first horse. This was only one of her many pets (the most famous being the leopard, Lulu, who came home with Rose from a Vietnamese sojourn). A picture exists for those who doubt: 16-year-old Rose in a lovely white dress with a real-life and exceedingly dangerous-looking leopard on her lap. Rose left China with her father on the last boat to Portugal, smuggled out by the Portuguese consul. She took only a small suitcase, and ‘a deck of cards, so I was the most popular girl on the boat!’ Soon after, she met and married Charles Rhodes, an English photographer, and started a very different, though equally glamorous life in Malibu. Charles worked for the studios and photographed ‘everyone,’ including Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Joan Crawford, and the Reagans, all of whom ended up dining with Rose. Charles and Rose moved in 1961 to Pacific Palisades, where Rose started work on her prize-winning Chinese garden, featured in recent Palisades Garden Club tours. She was famous in the neighborhood, not only for her garden and her poodles (‘I like mean dogs!’ she would laugh), but for her delightful sense of humor, not to mention her cakes. There still rages in the Palisades, despite Rose’s passing, a running debate over which one was better: the chocolate-chip chocolate or the Better-Than-Sex cake. The family has promised to reveal the closely-guarded recipes at the reception honoring Rose, which will take place in her beloved garden tomorrow. Rose was a devout Catholic and member of Corpus Christi Parish since 1961. She supported foster children throughout the world, as well as giving to 14 different charities each month. She is survived by her stepbrothers Herman and Paul LaVine; stepsister Shirley Lawrence of Pasadena; step-grandson Randy Rhodes; three step-grandchildren; nephew Patrick LaVine (Robin); and long-time friend Peter Precep, who cared for her during the last five years of her life. She is mourned by an entire neighborhood that will never quite stop missing the ray of light that Rose brought to the street, and to every life she touched. A Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m.at Corpus Christi Church tomorrow, followed by the burial at Holy Cross Cemetery at 405 Slauson, and the reception at 900 Lachman Lane. There will also be a viewing from 4 to 8 p.m. this afternoon at the Gates Kingsley Funeral Home at 1925 Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the charity of your choice in Rose Rhodes’ name.
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