Santos Rodriguez

Santos Rodriguez, age 77, passed away on June 6th, 2023, in Ft. Wayne Indiana, after four years of struggles with the effects of Agent Orange. A memorial service will be held at St Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Toledo OH on Thurs, June 15th, 2023 @ 2:00 p.m, with military honors provided by the United States Marine Corp Honor Guard. A reception will follow @ the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Event Center, 1225 Broadway, Toledo OH 43609. He is survived by his wife, Rosa Mata Rodriguez and their daughter, Teresa and Rosa's daughter, Diana Ysasaga. Santos also leaves behind his two sons, Steven and Sean Rodriguez, and his siblings, Julia Trumbull (Dan), Maria Rodriguez-Winter (Duane), Odilia Clements, Julian Rodriguez, and Margarita Hernandez (Ernesto). Santos was preceded in death by his parents, Santos and Margarita Rodriguez, and brother-in-law, William Clements. Santos was born on May 19th, 1946, in Racine, Wisconsin to, while his parents were passing through the state as migrant farm workers from Texas. A graduate of Pettisville High School, Santos was a proud Marine who served in Vietnam; fighting in the height of the war during the Tet offensive of 1968. As a Catholic, his war experience tested his faith. Throughout the 1970's he struggled with the emotional effects of his war experience. However, after experiencing Jesus's love in the early 1980's, he was born again. This event saved his life and led to many years of spreading the Gospel of Christ's saving and redeeming love. During his 40+ years of work, Santos impacted thousands of lives through his work in computer technology. He worked for IBM in the early 1970's, John Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, the National Weather Service, and then over two decades he was an IT Specialist @ the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) . He was a co-inventor of the EMWIN, the Emergency Managers Weather Information Network, a service that allows users to obtain weather forecasts, warnings, and other information directly from the National Weather Service (NWS) in almost real time. Santos was a key promoter of this system, traveling to Hawaii, the Caribbean, and other locations to train and demonstrate the power of EMWIN. Thorough this invention, people around the world were protected from the impacts of severe weather events. Santos also loved to hunt, fish, hunt for fossils, paint, carve, fix any mechanical object and collect guns and, of course, he was a true weather geek. But, above all, Santos was a loyal friend, loving husband, and devoted father.

Santos Rodriguez

May 19, 1946 - June 6, 2023