Rhodes is craftsman of grandfather clocks
Staff writer
Martin Rhodes is a jack of all trades and a master of them all. From crafting clocks and making doll houses to renovating and designing additions to homes, Rhodes pretty much does it all.
Born and raised in Oklahoma, he spent 27 years working as a field engineer for a hospital management company in Amarillo, Texas. Rhodes developed maintenance and construction departments for hospitals throughout the country for the company.
"This called for me to do some extensive traveling," Rhodes said.
In 1989, he and his wife Fran moved back close to the farm they owned in Lawton, Okla. Later they opened up a business called Kitchen and Bath Design Showroom.
They sold fixtures and cabinets, and Fran, a former home economics teacher, was the interior decorator.
"We had visited our daughter here in Hillsboro two or three times a year," Rhodes said. "And I said it for years, that whenever I get ready to retire, we'll move to Hillsboro."
In 1997, the couple moved to Hillsboro to retire. But for their first year in Hillsboro, he worked at the former AMPI in the engineering department until all the equipment was sold after the plant closed.
So retirement didn't officially begin until 1998 Rhodes said.
Rhodes has managed to continue his hobby of woodworking and take on other construction jobs as well.
He began making grandfather and grandmother clocks approximately 40 years ago along with a friend.
Rhodes explained that grandmother clocks are five feet tall and grandfather clocks are over five feet tall. He has made 27 of them so far, for his family members and for customers.
"I don't know what a clock will look like when I first start," he said. "I work from the bottom up, and I try to make all of my moldings."
He said it takes between 30 to 100 hours to make one of these clocks, depending upon how ornate the customer or family member wants the piece to be.
He has made only two mantle clocks in his lifetime.
Rhodes said he has made each of his granddaughters a doll house. A project that may take up to 300 hours to make, he said.
Rhodes took a few woodworking courses in high school, but most of what he does is self-taught. He said he has learned a number of things throughout the years.
"My wife is 50 percent of the team," Rhodes said. "No projects are complete without her input. I use her as a sounding board to look at what I do — something I value very much."
One of the projects, he and his wife Fran, undertook was the total remodeling of their home in Hillsboro.
"It took me one year and two months to finish it," Rhodes said.
Rhodes has done several projects in the four years he has been in Hillsboro. They include designing and building additions to homes and overseeing the building of a new home as the construction manager to renovating rental properties and doing odd jobs for neighbors and friends.
Rhodes said he begins each day at 4 a.m.
"I work on my personal projects from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. before I go and do whatever job I need to do that day," he said.
When he has time, Rhodes likes to fish. He is a licensed pilot and used to fly a single-engine plane.
The couple have been married 47 years and attend Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.
They have three daughters, Sherrie and her husband Ruben Conteras of Amarillo, Texas, Donna and her husband Kirby Fadenrecht of Hillsboro, and Janet and her husband Ted Jones of Houston, Texas. They have eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.
