Richard Rodriguez

Richard was born on April 3, 1923, in Aguascalientes, Mexico. He was the son of a railroad worker. Richard was raised with a younger brother and sister. As a young man, Richard worked for the railroad company as a carpenter, like his father. His father, Jose, taught Richard his trade. In his spare time, Richard loved to dance and dive off of cliffs. In his early twenties, Richard volunteered and joined the Mexican army as a Tanker/Infantryman. After serving his country, Richard returned to his job as a carpenter with the railroad company.

In 1947, Richard met a beautiful lady, Juanita Garcia, who would later become his wife. They married in 1948, and remained married for 63 years. Juanita ultimately gave him seven children, John, Alex, Maria, Robert, David, Joe, and Danny. In 1956, in an effort to build a better life, Richard emigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles. Every week, Richard sent Juanita money to support his family. In November of 1960, Richard saved enough money to emigrate his whole family to the United States.

Richard worked as a boilermaker for over 30 years at the Rite Engineering Company in Downey. To make ends meet, Richard continued to work as a carpenter on weekends. Richard knew the U.S. was a great country and that it was the land of opportunity. In 1970, Richard, Juanita and the rest of his family became proud Naturalized U.S. citizens. In 1973, Richard attained the American dream. Richard and Juanita had saved enough money to buy their home in the city of Whittier.

In 1988, Richard retired from Rite Engineering. While retired, Richard loved working on his backyard, his roses, his avocado tree and he continued to work on his joy of carpentry. With his free time, Richard began to travel. His greatest adventure was traveling to Europe, where he visited Germany, Holland, Austria and Belgium. Richard is survived by 13 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren.

Arrangements under the direction of Funeraria del Angel - Morrow's, Pico Rivera, CA.