Edward Frederick Rodriguez

Colonel Edward F. (“Rod”) Rodriguez, USAF (Ret.) passed away on May 7, 2020. He was 99. Born and raised in Laredo, Texas, he was married to his elementary and high school classmate, Mary Rumsey Rodriguez. They graduated together from St. Peter’s High School in 1938.

In March 1942, Rod enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was selected for Army Air Force Officer Candidate School. In January 1943 after completion of training, in Miami Beach, Florida, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces. In March of that year, in San Antonio, Texas, Rod and Mary married.

After further training, including Aircraft Observer and Combat Intelligence Schools, Rod was assigned to the South West Pacific Theater of operations. As a rated Aircraft Observer and a Joint Assault Signal Company Combat Liaison Officer, he directed naval gunfire and artillery fire. He served in New Guinea, participated in the amphibious assaults on Leyte and Luzon and in 55 combat missions with the Escort Carrier Force during the Okinawa Campaign. For wounds received during that campaign, Rod received the Purple Heart. He was a member of the Greatest Generation.

After V-J Day, Rod stayed in the U.S. Army Air Forces. From 1946 to 1948, he served with the Army of Occupation in Germany. In 1947, while in Germany, he transitioned into the new U.S. Air Force. His further Air Force assignments took him and his family to Texas; Illinois; Virginia (for Armed Forces Staff College); Taipei, Taiwan; Alabama (for Air War College); the Pentagon; and Madrid, Spain, where he was Commander, 401st Combat Support Group, Torrejon Air Base. In 1974, after a brief terminal assignment at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. (where his son, Captain Ed Rodriguez, was also assigned at the time), Rod retired from the Air Force. He served for 31 years.

Over the course of his life, Rod earned a University of Maryland bachelor’s degree and three master’s degrees: one from George Washington University and two from George Mason University. For several years after his Air Force retirement, he taught history at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic School, in Vienna, Virginia. As Mary’s health failed, Rod became her full-time care giver.

Rod and Mary were married 68 years. Mary was a dedicated Air Force wife and herself, a member of the Greatest Generation. Mary passed away in 2011. Rod is survived by his son, Edward F. Rodriguez, Jr., and daughter, Elizabeth R. (Bette) Stolarun; their spouses, Alicia K. Rodriguez and Edward L. Stolarun; his granddaughters, Alicia Marie Rodriguez; Elizabeth Rumsey Rodriguez (Bill Gay) and Melissa Marie Blazic (Andrew Blazic); and his great grandson, Grant Edward Blazic; and many nieces and nephews. Rod was preceded in death by his parents, Jose Ismael Rodriguez (1885-1948) and Marie Stella Edna Wiendahl (1887-1970) and his brothers, Joseph I. (Billy) Rodriguez (1912-1976), Horace F. Rodriguez (1918-1921), Frederick C. Rodriguez (1919-1921) and Lieutenant Colonel John B. Rodriguez, USAF (Ret.) (1923-2011).

Mass of Christian Burial, Friday, 11:00 a.m., at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, 3700 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, Va. (Due to current restrictions, attendance will be limited to immediate family.) Interment at a later date in Arlington National Cemetery