Rhonda Renee Hermes

Rhonda Renee Hermes, 59, of Itasca, TX, passed into peacefulness on February 13th, 2024.  Visitation will be held Saturday, February 17, 2024, at Marshall and Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro, TX, from 2 - 4 p.m.

She was born December 14, 1964, in Houston, TX, to Gerald and Geraldine Hermes. Rhonda is survived by her devoted partner of 22 years, Lauri (Britt) Alverson of Itasca; and family members from the Houston area which include her older brothers, Mark and his wife, Lindy, and Brad Hermes; and her beloved nieces and nephews, Rachel Parker, Season Rivet, Shawna Hermes, Johnny Maddux, Jesse Hermes, and Josh Hermes.

She leaves behind many special friends, Kay Cafero, Jo-Ann Wood, Beau Champion, Debbie Kilgore, and so many more childhood friends I know I'm remiss in mentioning. Rhonda surely would've wanted to send you all a handpicked Hallmark card to tell you goodbye, she loves you, and thank you for being such good friends in her own heartfelt words if she would have been able. She just had that special and unique kind of thoughtfulness, always.

Rhonda graduated from McCullough High School in The Woodlands, Texas, in 1984. She then attended the Texas School of Business in Houston and received her Medical Assistant Diploma. Because of her love of animals, she decided to pursue a career in the veterinary field and worked as a Veterinary Assistant for 8 years. Later she decided to make a small
career change and took a position as a Dental Lab Technician. After meeting the love of her life and moving to the DFW area in 2001, ultimately she ended up being her own boss as an internet entrepreneur. She made, produced, sold and shipped custom audio/video items on CD and DVD. She was very happy doing this since it also enabled her to meet and become friends with people all over the world via the internet. She took great pride in her work and was meticulous with her products. Customer satisfaction was of the utmost importance to her.

Rhonda was a woman of many talents. She was artistic, crafty, witty, creative, and most of all, extremely kind-hearted and caring. She loved classic rock music, loved to sing, and had a lovely voice. She never had a bad word to say about anyone, which is a very admirable and rare quality in today's world. She was an absolute joy to be around and always greeted everyone with a smile, taking great effort to also try and greet everyone by their first name once she heard it. She said her Daddy told her that was the right way to do it, and she loved to make people feel appreciated and acknowledged.

During her lifetime I know of only one enemy she acquired, and it reared its ugly head in 2019. Its name was cancer. She was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer yet survived amazingly well with infusions of Keytruda. She visited Texas Oncology in Cleburne for IV infusions every 3 weeks for over 4 years. Eventually the treatments stopped working and
the cancer spread very painfully to her hip bone and elsewhere. Shortly after receiving a different chemo treatment, Rhonda suffered a major stroke and subsequently many smaller strokes. She never recovered.

I would like to take time to appreciate and acknowledge the life of this wonderful, beautiful, extraordinary, precious woman and all the ways she has brightened and enriched my life as well as others, but there just aren't enough words in existence to properly explain. Rhonda was a brilliant gem shining so bright.. a priceless, glorious ray of sunshine who warmed everyone's life that she touched. She was the sweetest, most genuine, most perfect person I ever met. She was loved so much, so very incredibly much! She will be missed beyond comprehension. The heart and mind will always hold memories of you close, but the body will forever yearn for your physical presence. Thank you, my dearest Rhonda, for the
best 22 years of my life. I would give anything if only it could've been longer! Rest in peace, sweetheart.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.