Arthur A. Rodriquez MD

Arthur A. Rodriquez, M.D. “Dr. Rod”, age 96. Beloved husband and sweetheart of 67 years of Ida “Sammy” nee Samuelli. Devoted father of Alfred V, (Alice) and Dale F. (Kathleen). Proud grandfather of Eric (Amy) Celauro, Jason (Tara) Celauro, Nathaniel A. Rodriquez and Jonathan R. Rodriquez. Great grandfather of Grace, Jack, Tess, Connor and Mia. Loving brother of the late Alfred (the late Marge), Jack (the late Laurie), Connie (the late Ralph) Beck and Maria Greco. Also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. Arthur and his late wife Sammy worked side by side for 50 years as proprietors of Southside Physical Medicine Center. He was a pioneer in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as electromyography. Arthur knew from the age of 7 that he wanted to be a doctor. He was able to spend almost 60 years of his life treating patients with great compassion, kindness and dignity. Memorial Visitation Sunday from noon to 4pm at Chapel Hill Gardens South Funeral Home, 11333 S. Central Avenue, Oak Lawn with a Memorial Service at 3pm. Please omit flowers. To celebrate Arthur’s life visit www.chapelhillgardenssouth.com or for info call 708-636-1200.

Eulogies

From Dale-(Son) DAD

The task of writing a eulogy is never easy. I don't know how you sum up a man's life in just a few paragraphs. That job is even more difficult when that man had such a huge impact on your life, someone who has been so meaningful to so many and has accomplished so much.

Dad was 96 years old when he passed away. He was born in 1914, the 3rd in a family of 5. Two older brothers and two younger sisters. His father and mother emigrated here from Italy around 1906. His dad was a musician who worked as a businessman and in real estate to pay the bills. Dad learned his work ethic and his love of music from an early age.

My earliest memories of Dad date back to the 1950s, when I was 4 or 5 and my brother Al was 9. Back then we lived on 63 rd & Kimbark on Chicago's south side in a six flat building with my Dad's entire family. His parents, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and all their kids occupied 5 of the 6 flats in the building. For Al and I, it was a time we'll never forget. We were surrounded by our Grandparents, our Aunts and Uncles and our 12 cousins. We were all piled into one little building, but it felt like one big home. Sunday dinners at Grandmas were wild but wonderful.

I remember Dad coming home from the hospital wearing his ever present fedora and carrying a brief case. I'd be outside playing with a cousin usually Skip or maybe Barry or Bunny. Dad would scoop me up in his arms give me a kiss and big hug. His cheek always felt so warm. Then he would do the same thing with whoever I was playing with. Years later when I looked back at those times it was obvious how much he loved not only AI & I, but all of his nieces & nephews as well.

I remember in the 50's in Blue Island when his sisters Maria & Connie, their husband's Tony & Ralph, cousins Alva, Sherry & Skip would come over on most Saturday's. They'd just talk and laugh about everything. At some point, Dad would inevitably end up at the piano with everyone gathered around him singing and laughing. At midnight, the conversation would switch to politics, the Irv Kupcinet show "At Random" would come on and Skip and I would fall asleep. I remeber how he was so completely happy when he was with his family. He just loved those times.

I remember hearing stories of the depression. He was 15 when the depression hit in 1929. Dad's family, like many families during that time, had to pull together to survive. The entire family lived together on Sawyer ave. including his oldest brother AI who was married and had a child. Dad & his brother Jack worked at whatever jobs they could find to help support the family. Despite the hard times, AI encouraged them to complete their schooling and become doctors, while he worked as an accountant and supported the family and his brothers' education. Dad said many times over the years that he and Jack would not have made it without their brother AI' s support.

So through the depression decade Dad worked & stayed in school. He and Jack eventually graduated from the University of Illinois Medical School in 1941. World War II broke out and both brothers joined the Public Health Service. As a result of his work with wounded soldiers in the public health service, Dad developed an interest in rehabilitation. He eventually specialized in physical medicine & rehabilitation which was in its infancy when he completed the program in 1949. Over the course of his career, Dad made significant contributions to the field, ultimately being recognized as one of the pioneers in the field.

The kind of patients Dad saw were people who suffered physical impairments as a result of an illness or injury such as a stroke or an accident. His goal was to return them to as much function as possible. One of the tools used today to determine the extent of nerve & muscle damage is an EMG. Dad was instrumental in the development of the EMG. While teaching at the U of I Medical School in the 1950's he went to the people in the maintenance department and gathered the components to make a crude EMG machine. It worked!! Over the years, he promoted its use and development, in addition to teaching others how to use it. This machine has evolved into a vitally important tool and Dad had much to do with its development. Unfortunately, a key component of the test requires sticking a needle into the damaged muscle to determine the extent of the damage. Some of you here may have had the pleasure of enduring an EMG and may have a word or two you'd like to say to him.

Dad's contributions to the medical field over the course of his nearly 60 year career are too numerous to recount here. Medicine was his fulfilment. More importantly, he enjoyed the opportunity to work with people and to help them resume their lives. He was a people person, who had a gift for seeing only the good and the potential in everyone. The only thing more important to Dad than medicine was family. He married his sweetheart Sammy in 1942 and together they raised a family and worked side by side for 50 years.

Accomplished as he was, he was always our biggest fan, and our strongest supporter. He stood with my brother AI and I through all the ups and downs of life, and he became another father to my wife, Kathy. Although he was a little skeptical when, at 15, I brought home my 14 year old girlfriend, Dad grew to love her and she became his "special daughter" for the next 47 years.

Though Dad was not a traditionally religious man, he lived an exemplary life. He was fair and just and honest. His answers to you never depended on his mood. They were always in your best interest. He had an unshakable moral compass and his sincerity was always obvious. He was a humanitarian who practiced with compassion & kindness. He was an educator who mentored many and helped guide them along their career path. He dedicated his life to improving the lives of others.

That's what Dad was a man who improved the lives of others. A man who -if you got to know him - if you you got close to him--you would love him. Though he is gone now, he will remain in our hearts & memories forever. As for me I'll always be able to feel the warm press of his cheek against mine.

Dad, I will love you always

From Dr. Skip Rodriquez- (Nephew)

Art loved a lot of things. His life was like a symphony of things close to him, family, singing, music, medicine, politics and nature. He conducted this symphony with genuine love and humor. His love was reciprocated by all of those who knew him. At national medical meetings, I still am stopped by physicians (now at retirement age) who were taught by Art and could not say enough about his kindness and skill. His professional accomplishments are real. He founded the electromyography organization with thirteen members that is now the major electrodiagnostic and neuromuscular medicine organization with thousands of members. He also helped lead the profession as a member of the board of our specialty for about fifteen years.

My first real sense of our greater family was at dinner at Art and Sammy's on Kimbark. The table was filled with laughter and earnest discussion (which I was too young to understand). Art was at the head of the table with a glass of beer and held a clam, which he dressed with Tabasco. He looked at the clam with delight and reverence, which seemed to embody everything great about the world. I have loved clams ever since.

Later, Art and Sammy regularly hosted wonderful family dinners in Blue Island. Often Maria and Tony, Alva, Connie and Ralph were present. Again, laughter and singing were part of the mix with Uncle Art at the center of this precious universe of love connecting us all. Maria was the family historian, pointing out the binding ties and shared experience of the past. Uncle Art loved to play the piano and seemed to be in heaven with everyone gathered around to sing. Sammy and Art were so accepting that their home seemed like home to me. I viewed Dale as my twin (and Alfred as my much older) brother and spent as much time there as possible.

Art and Sammy gave me a deep sense of connectedness to family and the security of feeling truly loved. Art also gave me my profession and a commitment to science. He encouraged me by mentoring a summer of research after college at IC Hospital and bringing me along on rounds at Little Company of Mary Hospital. After my internship when I was practicing in the Public Health Service (which Art had done), it dawned on me that Physical Medicine was perfect for me. Art talked with my future resident director who called me during one of my clinics at Red Lake and offered me a position at the best program in the country . Later, working with Art was like a fellowship. What a wonderful experinece to work in the setting of a family business. Sammy’s humor and Art’s mentoring were truly a wonderful experience. Uncle Art remained interested in my research even as he declined at the end of a long happy life. At a time when he had some difficulty staying on conversation , he asked cogent and helpful questions about the new technique of brain stimulation I was learning.

Spiritually, the sense of family connection and love he has helped engender has helped me to feel connected and part of the larger human community and to nature. I will face my own death with the deep sense that I am part of something larger than myself.

This is a tribute from the Samuelli family to the wonderful man who was Arthur Rodriquez.

I am so sorry we cannot be with you today to celebrate Dr. Art’s life, but I felt compelled to share a few thoughts about this great man.

I was welcomed into the Samuelli family almost exactly 50 years ago. And with that came the opportunity to be a part of the Rodriquez family via my father in law’s sister, Sammy. My observations during these 50 years have been to watch Art and Sammy share their love, care, guidance and medical expertise with all of our family on so many occasions. They were always just a phone call away and no matter what was going on in their busy lives, they always made you feel that you were at that moment the most important patient they ever had. It was always our privilege to share with them so many family occasions, some happy – some sad…. But they were always there to join us.

Art was a prime example of a truly decent man -- probably the kindest and most caring and generous man you could ever be so fortunate to meet. Even as our grandchildren came along, although they were in fact three generations removed from him, he always showed a true interest in them and was able to interact with them individually and at their level. They have so many fond memories of the times spent with Uncle Art.

Art and Sammy truly devoted their lives to the care of others. I remember one incident from quite a few years ago that Mary talks about when the four of them, Art & Sammy, Lino & Mary, were walking along the street in downtown Chicago on their way to dinner and the theater. They came upon a man who was lying on the sidewalk, injured or ill – I’m not sure. Everyone else just stepped over him and passed him by….. but along came Art & Sammy, he in his “dress-up” suit, she in her . They both knelt beside the man, administered aid as they could and waited for help to come for him. What a lucky guy to have the Rod’s come by at just that moment !! This is exactly how they spent their lives, always giving everything they had and then giving some more. I can only imagine how many people’s lives have been made better by their ministerings, and I can’t help but think that somewhere someone was keeping track and giving credit. We feel so fortunate and blessed to have had them be a part of our lives.

Uncle Art and I had a few conversations about heaven. I always told him I planned to meet him there, and of course he didn’t agree. But, I look forward to seeing him again one day and saying to him, “I TOLD YOU SO!!”

We love you Uncle Art and Aunt Sammy and we miss you so much!

Love from Joanne and all the Samuellis.

From Jonathan-(Grandson) For Grandpa

"Music... is the soul of the people". That's the first thing Grandpa taught me as I sat down next to him in front of the piano. I was about 7 years old when I first started taking lessons from him. Granted, they didn't last long. I switched to playing a saxophone, then a bass guitar. Well, piano came and went. But I still remember everything.

For awhile Grandpa was a bit of a mystery to me. I always knew to regard him in the highest respect. If any issue of my own health and safety were concerned, we'd always go to Grandpa. Around the dinner table I used to hear adventurous tales of a character named Tilly the Toliet, who used to beat up local bullies. It was only later on that I discovered that that character was in fact, my grandfather. I was one lucky duck to have him right down the street from me.

I especially remember a certain battle of the wits. Featuring the neighborhood squirrels. I can't express how many times those darned squirrels were a main topic of conversation at the dinner table. His frustration eventually led to his transformation into a human sentinel; watching over his prized birdfeeder, BB gun in hand, ready and waiting. As his eye sight grew poor, and the squirrels restless, he eventually tried a passive-aggressive approach by barking and howling at them. He never did receive the justice he so rightly deserved. It's to my belief that the little varmints just ended up calling all their friends with news of dinner and a show.

Most of all, I remember our family dinners. We always made room for friends and we never ate in front of the TV. I’m extremelv humb!ed by those times. Grandpa was always at the head of the table… " and that is where I will continue to see him today.