Raymond Isidore Rodriguez

Raymond I. Rodriguez was born on April 4, 1943 and is the oldest of three children from Ramon Vicente Rodriguez and Josephina Rodriguez (Paez). Ray was born in Los Angeles, CA in a residence located at 118 South State St. at 5:55 PM.

Ray left us to begin his eternal life in heaven on September 26, 2020 at 4:26 AM at the age of 77. He passed in the comfort of his own home surrounded by his children, daughter in laws, and the love of his life, his wife. Ray is survived by his wife, Mary. His daughter, Elizabeth. His three sons Robert, Aaron, and Ray Jr. His sister, Lilly and his brother, Carlos. Ray proudly carried many other titles in his family as a nephew, cousin, uncle, godfather, grandfather and great grandfather.

Ray met his high school sweetheart, Mary Rodriguez (Portillo) in 1957 when he was only 14 years old. One thing to know about Ray is that once he made up his mind about something, there was no changing it. The moment he set his eyes on his ‘little woman’, he knew he would marry her. This was the beginning of a passionate love made for the movies. Shortly after meeting his future wife, Ray attended and then graduated from Cathedral Highschool. He made friendships of a lifetime there, many of which lasted through his passing day.

Ray followed in his Father’s footsteps and became a licensed electrician shortly after high school working for the family owned and operated business Lee Electric. He became a member of the IBEW, Local 11 and retired after over 50 years in the industry. He had an eventful career that eventually led to him becoming a founding member and two term President of the Latin Business Association. During his time as President of the LBA his passion and skillset for politics, helping the Latino business community and networking were second to none. Some of his most notable achievements were, hosting a gala to aide President Reagan in obtaining support from the Latino community for re-election and ultimately working alongside Senator David Roberti and the Major of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley in coordinating the 1984 Olympics.

Ray loved many things in life such as hunting, fishing, dancing, singing, and telling jokes and stories. He loved giving advice and guidance to anyone who asked. He was a lifelong student and teacher of life. Above all things that he loved in life, was his love for spending time with his family.