Rhonda Rae Silence

Rhonda Rae (Bockovich) Silence died at home on Saturday, August 16, 2025 after decades of living with blood cancer.

Rhonda was born to Roberta (Oberg) and Richard Bockovich on May 17, 1957, at Fort Carson Army Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where her father was serving in the U.S. Army. The family moved home to Grand Marais when Rhonda was a toddler.

Dick and Bobbie lived in a tiny house in Grand Marais and then with Rhonda’s grandparents at “the Farm” on County Road 7. Rhonda was blessed with a large, loving family with too many cousins to count. There were many adventures—helping with haying, sledding, picnicking, swimming at Rosebush Creek, and more.

When Bobbie and Dick bought land and built their house on County Road 7 in Grand Marais, Rhonda and her sister, Rhodelle “Delle” helped clear the land and tried to stay out of the way. The girls were delighted (mostly) when their family grew with the addition of two little brothers, Randy and Ryan.

Rhonda attended elementary school in the old brick school building and graduated from Cook County High School in June 1975.

Just a few weeks later, Rhonda married her soldier sweetheart, Charles Allen Silence, on June 18, 1975. Many friends and family members told them they were too young to get married, but young love prevailed. After the wedding, they set off for the life of a military family. Chuck was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington. They spent many happy hours hiking the trails at Point Defiance Park and on Mount Rainier.

Chuck next received orders to Mannheim, Germany, where they lived for three years and where their oldest son, Benjamin, was born in the beautiful city of Heidelberg in 1979. The next assignment was to Fort Carson, Colorado. In an interesting twist of fate, their second son, Gideon, was born at the Fort Carson Army Hospital in 1982.

More travel followed, with Chuck being assigned to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea. Rhonda and the two boys returned to Minnesota for a long year apart. There were plenty of adventures in Minnesota as Rhonda’s brothers, Randy and Ryan enjoyed playing with their young nephews. A lot of time was spent on The Point, at Mink Lake and Cascade and other local trails.

When Chuck returned from Korea, he was assigned to Fort Ord near Monterey, California. This was one of Chuck’s longest postings, and they loved exploring the beaches, tidal pools, Cannery Row, and Fisherman’s Wharf. They were there for the grand opening of the beautiful Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The family was blessed to return to Germany for three more years of adventure based in Heilbronn Germany. They were lucky to see history in action during the exciting time when the Berlin Wall came down. They traveled as much as they could, visiting England, France, Czechoslovakia, and Austria.

Chuck’s last posting was at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. The family enjoyed visiting the Smithsonian Museums and many historic sites on the East Coast.

In 1995, Chuck retired and the family moved “home” to Grand Marais. No matter where they roamed, the plan was always to return to the North Shore.

During their travels, Rhonda joked that she was a “camp follower.” It was difficult to change jobs with every move, but she enjoyed most of the positions she held—at the Post Exchange uniform store and as a library aide in Germany; at the Spur gas station in Grand Marais while Chuck was in Korea; with the National Weather Service’s Ocean Applications Group in Monterey; and as a medical receptionist for Cardiac Rehab at Potomac Hospital in Virginia.

Upon their return home, Rhonda worked at another gas station—Super America in Grand Marais —for a while. She eventually took a position as a Customer Service Representative at Arrowhead Electric and enjoyed assisting members with electrical service and DirecTV matters.

However, in 1999, Rhonda discovered her true calling when she became the editor of the Cook County Star. She worked at the community newspaper in competition with the Cook County News-Herald and eventually took the helm when the two papers merged in 2009. She enjoyed being a voice for the people of Cook County. As editor, she wrote a weekly column, Unorganized Territory and never missed a week, even while hospitalized with Guillain-Barré Syndrome for several months in 2007-2008.

In 2016, Rhonda took a leap of faith and entered the broadcast media industry, becoming a news reporter and producer for WTIP Community Radio. It was truly her dream job, and she took pride in the work done at the small radio station on the North Shore.

However, Rhonda’s greatest joy was spending time with her family. As her boys were growing up, there were soccer and football games to attend, vacations and lots of mini-golf. (Loser buys ice cream!)

Rhonda was blessed with two daughters-in-law who also loved the North Shore and who chose to live in Grand Marais. That made it easier to be close when the grandkids arrived—RaeAnne, Genevieve, Carter, AnnaBelle and Eloise.

Time with those grandchildren was the most precious time, whether attending sporting events; family game nights; camping, hiking, ATVing, fishing, or having a movie night. One event that Rhonda adored was the annual “Gingerbread House” gathering.

But even the simplest of things like a snack stop at Grandma’s to grab a treat (Pop-Tarts or Cup of Noodles?) or to bring deliveries of soup meant the world to Rhonda. Every visit, short or long, was made sweeter with a hug and an “I love you” before heading out the door.

Rhonda and Chuck loved all their travels and in recent years they enjoyed camping in their toy hauler and riding the backroads and trails on their ATVs. Their last adventure was a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands in April 2024.

That last memorable trip helped ease the sorrow of Chuck’s passing by suicide on October 12, 2024.

Rhonda had a unique gift of being able to talk to any person and form meaningful and lasting connections. She made friends wherever she went regardless of the circumstances or background. To know Rhonda was to experience love and peace.

Rhonda is also preceded in death by her wonderful mother, who threw the best birthday parties and always read a bedtime story when asked.

Rhonda is survived by her amazing walking Dad, Richard Bockovich; by her children Ben and Michele “Goosie” Silence and Gideon and Sara Silence of Grand Marais; her grandchildren RaeAnne, Genevieve, Carter, AnnaBelle, and Eloise; her sister, Rhodelle (J.R.) Allman of Stark City, Missouri; her brothers, Randy Bockovich of Grand Marais and Ryan (Jeni) Bockovich of Duluth; her brother-in-law, Brian (Nanette) Silence of Grand Marais; her sisters-in-law, Lois Sprinkle of Indianapolis, Indiana and Mary “Sissy” Silence.

Rhonda is also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews and all those cousins!

Once again, the list of people who have helped our family is endless and we won’t try to list them because we do not want to leave anyone out. However, we want to say a special thanks to the medical staff at North Shore Health in Grand Marais and the oncology team at Essentia-St. Mary’s.

Your caring and kindness will never be forgotten.

A celebration of life will be held on September 26th, 2025 at the Cook County Community Center. The service will start at 11:00 am with a luncheon to follow.