Nicknamed Rody, Homer was a natural showman.  He would call his instrument a Methodist trombone that would occasionally backslide.  Or, he would pull his lips from the mouthpiece and say Just imagine!  I’m being paid just to do this!

On August 20, 1921, he made what may be the first Gennett recordings in the company's Richmond, Indiana recording plant.  This recording was not released; however, in May 1922 he recorded eighteen numbers, of which four recitations were released: "Two Old Pals" backed by "Me An' Pap An' Mother" and "Daddy" along with "Little Chap Of Mine" backed by "The Mother's Love".  Also in 1922, he began recording for Gennett in the company’s New York studios.

Homer founded Rainbow Ranch, a boys' orphanage in Palatka, Florida, created and subsidized the Rodeheaver School of Music at the Winona Lake Bible Conference and traveled around the world on mission trips.  At the Dead Sea, while floating in the brine, he played "Brighten the Corner" on his trombone. Homer was exposed to the Morovian custom of an Easter Sunrise service and introduced the concept to the United States.

In 1912, Rodeheaver bought an old farm house on “Rainbow Point” at Winona Lake, Indiana and had it rebuilt to look like a ship.  Homer never married, and his half-sister Ruth and her husband, Jim Thomas, often served as hosts on his behalf.  An associate recalled that Rodeheaver was never the same after his favorite trombone was stolen in February 1952.  He died of heart failure at Winona Lake in 1955, aged 75.

Author:Karen Chasteen

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