Harley Glenn Roades was the son of Wilbur Rhoades and Elva Rean Sullivan. He was the grandson of Eleazer Rhoades and Harriette C. Garlett, and the grandson of Thomas Jefferson Sullivan and Sarah Catherine Hooker. Glenn had three sisters, Eva May Rhoades born in 1904, Clara Alice Rhoades born in 1907, and Rheta F. Rhoades born in 1920.
On October 22, 1941, at the age of 29, Glenn married Florence H. Thiel in Benton County, Oregon. Florence was the daughter of August Henry Thiel and Hariet Comstock. The witnesses at that marriage were Florence's father A. H. Thiel and her brother Warren Thiel. Florence and Glenn had two sons, Terry and Gene.
Glenn was a veteran of World War II. At the time of his death, at age 52, he was employed as a mechanic, living in the rural community of Blodgett in Benton County, and married to Florence Rhoades.