Agustin Manuel Rodríguez

AGUSTIN (“AUGUSTINE”) MANUEL RODRIGUEZ VALENZUELA, passed away after a short hospital stay on April 14, 2023. In the end he was ready to go “home” and peacefully prayed for God’s mercy. Agustin was born on May 28, 1946, in San Francisco Del Oro, Chihuahua, Mexico, and by 1948, his parents Serafin Rodriguez Chavez and Maria del Rayo Valenzuela de Rodriguez, had migrated to Oxnard, California. Growing up both in Oxnard and Juarez, Agustin met his future wife Leonor Salinas at the age of 12 in Juarez, Mexico, as they were neighbors, with Leonor living down the hill, and would come to Agustin’s home because Agustin would charge the neighborhood kids to come watch television. Agustin had a distinct whistle to get Leonor’s attention, and have her meet him, such that by the age of 18, Agustin and Leonor moved together to Oxnard.

On January 2, 1965, Agustin and Leonor married at the Santa Rosa Church in San Fernando, California surrounded by their extended family. Agustin and Leonor Rodriguez welcomed their first child, Norma Rodriguez (“Ortiz”) in Oxnard. A year later, Agustin and Leonor welcomed son, Augustine Rodriguez, born in Ventura, California. While still living in California, Agustin and Leonor welcomed daughter, Estela Rodriguez (“Cordero”), in Oxnard. As a dedicated family man, and despite his love for living close to the ocean where he could be found fishing frequently, Leonor’s change in health returned them to the drier climate in El Paso, Texas. With significant amounts of extended family in the El Paso and Juarez, Agustin and Leonor settled in Sunland Park, New Mexico in 1973. There Agustin and Leonor welcomed their third daughter Lorena Rodriguez (“Fuentes”), and their second son Raul Rodriguez.

Agustin was a lifelong engineer by trade and an entrepreneur, having begun the study of electrical engineering in California, but having cut short his studies by his sudden move to El Paso, he was able to return to school and finish his associates degree in accounting. In the same year, he had a construction accident while working on the building of Coronado High School. He survived the fall with a broken back which required many years of physical therapy. This gave him time to study towards his accounting degree. He returned to work at the local Sunland Park Elementary School, alongside Leonor.

Once he was able to return to full time employment, he found employment at the Baltimore Spice Company, in Anthony, Texas in 1978. He was able to leverage his knowledge of drying and processing equipment, from his time that he worked at Cal-Turf in Oxnard. He always enjoyed telling the story of how he proved he could run the equipment at Baltimore Spice to dry and process red chile into a powder. There is where his passion for red and green chile began. Throughout his professional career he could be found on chile fields in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, inspecting the chile that he would eventually process into the chile products he sold, from chile flakes to chile powder. With the experience and contacts Agustin was making in the chile industry of New Mexico, an opportunity arose in 1995, he quickly took action as his entrepreneurial spirit took hold and with two other partners formed Tex-Mex Chile & Spice Company. His many years of engineering the chile processing at Baltimore Spice, where he also wore the hat of engineer, electrician, welder and mechanic, he became the production manager of Tex-Mex Chile & Spice Company. His children always reminisced how growing up, Dad would come home with his clothes full of the chile powder he was producing at the plant. Worse was when his children could not get near him because he had been processing jalapeño pepper and just by simply standing in close proximity to Agustin, his children would get “enchilados” and go crying to Mom.

In January 2008, the Tex-Mex partners decided to sell the company to Deli Food Chile & Spice Company, of Delicias, Mexico. With Deli Foods, he was instrumental in helping them gain a foothold in the United States chile market. In 2014, he decided to retire to help take care of his wife Leonor after she had a heart attack.

With his wife doing better, in February 2016, Agustin decided to partner with two entrepreneurs to start the Rio Grande Chili and Spice, LLC. Unfortunately, just a couple of years later, Leonor suffered another health setback, such that he had to retire for a second and final time. For the last nine years, Agustin dedicated his life to taking care of the love of his life Leonor, until his passing on April 14, 2023.

His life was punctuated by his love of life, music, dancing and his love of a good time. Often, you would see him with a beer in his hand, laughing and enjoying life, while he was dancing to the Tigeres Del Norte, during New Year’s Eve parties, or throwing parties and get togethers of his own for his many friends and family. Every Sunday, you would find him at his parent’s home in Juarez, enjoying a poker game, or a game of “conquian” with the family, but always with a beer and cigarette in hand. Most of all, he loved having Rayito, his mother, take care of the children while he and Leonor went dancing. With such a zest for life, he was always the life of the party, from stopping at the side of the road when one of his favorite songs came on the radio, so that Agustin, Leonor and his children would get out of the station wagon and dance on the side of the road. He always made time for family vacations, enjoying weekends at Elephant Butte Lake on his small boat, teaching the kids to fish and enjoying time around the camp fire. The trips included watching a live, LA Dodgers baseball game, a day visit to Disneyland and of course, a stop in Las Vegas. He lived life to the fullest, surrounded by family and friends. If anyone needed construction, electrical, or welding work done, he was always there to lend a helping hand. You could approach him for anything, life advice, relationship advice, and everything in between, because he was always wise in the advice that he gave to one and all. Agustin, will be forever remembered, missed and loved.

Visitation for Agustin will be held Thursday, April 27, 2023 from 5:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m., with Rosary at 7:00 p. m. at Martin Funeral Home, 128 N Resler Dr, El Paso, Texas 79912. Funeral Mass will be held Friday, April 28, 2023 at 10:00 a. m. at San Martin de Porres Church, 1885 McNutt Rd, Sunland Park, NM 88063. Graveside Service will follow at 11:15 a. m. at Memory Gardens of the Valley, 4900 McNutt Rd, Santa Teresa, New Mexico 88008.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MartinFuneralHomeWest.com for the Rodriguez family.