Rodney Ponder Poole

Rod Poole, 77, was born in Raleigh to Laudis Allen “Bill” Poole and Margaret Marie “Peggy” Ponder Poole. Rod, a 1964 graduate in the first class of Enloe High School and later, NC State University, passed away peacefully early Thursday morning, after a brutal four month long battle with Glioblastoma.

Rod, a precious child of God, was a loving husband to Cathy, father to Sara & Matthew and Grandfather to Quinn. Rod from Raleigh, NC, and Cathy Marie Wilson from Greenville, NC met 5/8/1980 at Naval Air Station Adak, AK, an island in the Aleutian Island chain of Alaska, 5000 miles from NC.

Rod served on Adak as a civilian school counselor and Cathy was a nurse in the US Navy. They married July 10,1982 in Greenville, then moved to North Pole, AK followed in 1987 to Sitka, AK. In 1993 they returned to live in NC, settling in Garner in 1997. In 2018, Rod retired as an Orientation & Mobility instructor for the blind, after formally retiring from the Governor Morehead School in Raleigh several years earlier.

Rodney is survived by his loving wife, Cathy Marie Poole; son, Matthew Eric Poole and wife, Kelsey Sain Poole of Raleigh; daughter, Sara Elizabeth Crow of Raleigh; sister, A. Karan Poole and husband, Glenn Hanna of Selma; and grandchild, Ekron Cheslun Crow V “Quinn.”

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 21, 2024, at 3:00 PM, at Holland’s Church, 9433 Ten-Ten Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Rodney’s memory to The Governor Morehead Foundation: 7413 Six Forks Road, #207 Raleigh, NC 27615.