Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez passed away peacefully on May 31, 2019 at the age of 93. Born in Roswell, New Mexico in 1926, Richard was the son of Eleanor and Jose Rodriguez. He moved to Wilmington, California as teenager where he helped support his family by working various jobs. Richard later joined Chevron Refinery where he worked as a pipe fitter for over 30 years. While working at Chevron Richard engaged in a number of business ventures. He purchased a small ranch where he dabbled in raising chickens and pigs, started working part time remodeling homes in the Los Angeles area and also invested in a fishing lodge in Sitka, Alaska. He retired from Chevron in the late 1970’s and proceeded to give his self-started construction company his full attention. Over the course of his career, Richard built and worked on over 100 homes throughout the South Bay, and also built a number of apartment buildings and commercial properties in Wilmington.

Richard enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing cards with friends. He loved to share his fishing stories and always caught the “largest” fish. When his body started to slow down and he reluctantly retired he soon found he enjoyed puttering in the garden, both at his home in Lomita and on his visits to Connecticut. Richard also found he enjoyed travelling and he and Frances travelled frequently to Maui and enjoyed cruising to Alaska.

Unfortunately, Richard began experiencing Alzheimer’s symptoms in 2010, which slowly changed his day-to-day activities. Thank you to our family and friends that continued to provide friendship and support over the past nine years as the disease took its toll. Hugs to Snoopy, one of our cats, who provided nightly comfort sleeping at the foot of Richard's bed. Our caregivers, Jon and Jovi, took care of Richard’s daily needs and our friend Toni made Richard smile, to which, we are forever grateful.

Richard is survived by Frances, his beloved wife of 61 years; and by his three children: Cathy Lomas, Rose Wolfe and Richard Rodriguez Jr.; his 10 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, who all lovingly knew him as “Grandpa”.

Richard will be remembered for his smile, his sense of humor, and his generosity.

A Memorial Service will be held in his honor at the Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, at 1:30pm on Monday June 10, 2019.

Donations in Richard’s memory may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or to The Salvation Army (longbeach.salvationarmy.org).