Rhonda Ford
January 2, 1950 — March 12, 2019
Rhonda Brooke Mary Martin Ford, 69, of Lisbon, passed away on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 peacefully at her home surrounding by her loving children. She was the loving wife of the late Kenneth Richard Ford, Sr., a Vietnam veteran, her husband of 36 years. Born Jan. 2, 1950 in Olney, she was the eldest daughter of Bill and Phyllis Martin. Bill and Phyllis started off in Montgomery County and moved their family in 1956 to a dairy farm off Rt. 94 in Lisbon. They had 8 sons and 3 daughters.
Rhonda was a 1968 graduate of Glenelg High School and attended Catonsville Community College where she met Kenneth Richard Ford, Sr., a burgeoning athlete and Vietnam veteran from Catonsville, MD. The couple married in 1970 and welcomed son, Kenneth Richard Ford, Jr. soon after. The young couple and Kenny Jr. lived in Arbutus, MD until moving out to bucolic Western Howard County in 1974 where they built their home on Timberleigh Way across the field from her parent’s farm. Three daughters soon followed: Rebecca Brooke, Jennifer Elaine, and Rachel Leigh, all Glenelg High graduates like their Mother.
Family was everything to Rhonda. She devoted her life to raising her four children - attending endless plays and sports games. She enjoyed nature and art, she was an avid painter and sewer. A two-time breast cancer survivor, Rhonda was proud of her love and personal relationship with her savior Jesus Christ.
Rhonda had a simplicity and beauty that radiated from within. People flocked to be near her smile and warmth. Her sense of humor knew no bounds and she had everyone constantly laughing. She could not be placed in a box – she drove tractors, wore high heels, nailed up dry wall, wiped away tears, enjoyed power tools, caught snakes and loved to hold babies.
A small-town girl that saw the world, traveling from Hawaii to Europe, but was always happiest at home with her family by her side – and that was the way she left this world. God is good.
The family is holding a Celebration of Life at Upper Seneca Baptist Church at 11 am this Sat, March 16.