Joseph A. Rodriguez's Obituary
Joseph A. Rodriguez – A Eulogy The story that sums up the life of Joseph Rodriguez is in fact a story that has very little to do with Joseph Rodriguez. And it is one that he told me repeatedly over the last few years of his life. Whether we were sitting on a bench in Old Town while Lupe, Yolanda & Jacqueline shopped, or sitting on a bench in Balboa Park while they walked through the flower gardens, or in a small café in Julian looking out over the mountains – the story was always the same. While on a vacation in Spain he befriended another vacationing family of mom, dad and two teen boys. The mom and dad were bickering every day and on about the third day Joe was talking with the mom and told her he could see the effect of the fighting on the boys. He reminded her there was time to fight at home but for now they should make it about the boys – make it about the family. And she did. The next morning the boys showed up at breakfast smiling, the dad flashed him a thumbs up and the mom mouthed the words ‘thank you.’ Joe knew better than to ruin a good vacation but more importantly he knew family was first and in passing along that simple message he made a difference in the lives of strangers. He loved to tell me that story. It was about family. And he knew there was nothing on our planet or the heavens above that was more important than family. And did he have a family. All those great grandkids – From Calvin the oldest to the one in the womb – as Hector calls Number 10 ½ – and all the ones in between he loved so much. And all those grandkids from the eldest granddaughter Vanessa to the youngest Jacqueline and all the ones in between he also loved so much. And his sons – Victor, Jimmy & Hector. He loved them each with the pride of a father. Proud of that thing Victor does we call ‘that drawing thing on the computer.’ And the God given genius construction skills of Jimmy & Hector made him one of the proudest dads I’ve known. And his daughters – Yolanda, Patty & Mari. Where do you begin with the love he had for his girls. I will never forget sitting on top of my house with him years ago when we were doing an addition [actually he was going the addition, I was just handing him the nails]. I looked out over the horizon towards the hill at the border and I said ‘what a view.’ And without a thought Joe replied: ‘If you wanted to see a view you should have seen when I would go places with all three girls. People would just stop and stare. They were all so beautiful.’ You could not only see the love in his eyes but you could feel it while he said it. And his wife. How do describe a legendary love? Someone asked me once ‘do you think people their age just stay together or do they continue to love each other?’ In their case the answer was simple. They clearly and completely loved each other. He cared for her and she cared for him. To the outside world we saw a man working to provide a happy, comfortable life for his wife. To Joe he saw something else. Once after enjoying a meal he and I sat in the car while Lupe, Yolanda and Jacqueline walked through the rose gardens at Barona and he looked down towards Lupe and said ‘I don’t think I could do any of this without her.’ It was an admission from a man of a solid generation of men that were strong and invincible that it was his wife who was strong and invincible. She took care of him…and he loved her even more because of it. He lived his life completely for his wife. During life he lived to ensure she was taken care of. And on his death he died knowing he had made the preparations so she would be provided for. It truly was a legendary love. As a man leaves this world we think of how he lived his life. There are a lot of methods people use to gauge a man’s success. Some think the measure of a man is determined by how tall he was, or how strong, or how big his house was or how fancy his car was. But we know none of that matters when standing at the doors of Heaven. Then the measure of a man is how well did he listen to and follow the commandments of God. And the greatest commandment of all tells us to love others. By that measurement Joe Rodriguez was a giant and as his reward he is resting with our Heavenly Father and smiling down at those he loved so dearly and so well. The night he died my little girl said – ‘I just want grandpa back.’ Sadly enough we can’t have him back but we sure can keep him. Keep him in your heart and keep him in your mind. If you want to pay respect to the man Joseph Rodriguez do two things. First, love your family more than anything. More than ever. And second – laugh. Every day
What’s your fondest memory of Joseph?
What’s a lesson you learned from Joseph?
Share a story where Joseph's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Joseph you’ll never forget.
How did Joseph make you smile?