Early one morning in the summer of 1964, Texas A&M track and field coach Charlie Thomas pulled his station wagon out of the driveway and steered it southwest.
It was rare for him to bring his wife, Cecil, on recruiting trips, but he’d asked her to accompany him on this one. He was bound for unfamiliar territory, in pursuit of a budding prospect he coveted and needed to sign right away, and he wanted to seem as welcoming as possible. He’d heard the kid came from a big family.
A few hours later, the Thomases pulled into the tiny town of D’Hanis, looking for William Rodriguez, and the locals knew where to find him. Every afternoon since he’d been in the eighth grade, the fastest runner in Medina County had worked as a groundskeeper at Holy Cross Church, where he mowed the grass, raked leaves and gathered pecans.
And when Thomas tracked down Rodriguez and made his offer of a full A&M track scholarship?
“Willie told him he couldn’t sign the letter of intent right away,” recalled Ted Nelson, A&M’s assistant coach at the time. “He said, ‘I need to check with my parents and my priest first.’”
Permission was granted quickly, of course, and Rodriguez proved to be well worth the trip. Before he died Thursday of coronavirus complications, he distinguished himself not only with a sparkling list of athletic accomplishments, but also with a master’s degree, service in the U.S. Army, and a career in the oil business.
Just as he was no typical teenager while returning punts for touchdowns and winning state track championships in the 880-yard run for D’Hanis, he was no typical 75-year-old, either. Six weeks ago, he made one of his regular trips from his home in Lewisville to College Station, where he served as an official at the Southeastern Conference indoor championships.
Nelson, who became A&M’s head coach for many years and called Rodriguez a “brother,” said his old friend looked as hale and healthy as ever.
He’d been an impressive specimen from the very beginning. The seventh of 15 children, Rodriguez was the last of his siblings delivered at home by a midwife. The way the family tells the story, after 10-pound William was born, his parents decided that from then on, they’d better go to the hospital for deliveries, just to be safe.
So when Rodriguez fell ill in mid-March? It was understandable that the family was upbeat.
“He was as strong as a bull,” Rodriguez’s brother Manuel said Saturday. “We thought he was going to come out of it.”
But after checking himself into Medical City Hospital in Lewisville on March 20, Rodriguez’s condition worsened. His son William Jr., a medical doctor, made a plea for anyone who had recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma in hopes that it could be used to treat the illness.
One person who tried to help was Nelson, Rodriguez’s former coach and longtime friend. Nelson was almost certain that he had contracted coronavirus last month, but he never was able to be tested. Also, it turned out he had the wrong blood type.
When word of Rodriguez’s death arrived Thursday, Nelson was among many at A&M who were “heartbroken.” He said he wishes he could have come through for Rodriguez the way Rodriguez so often had come through for the Aggies.
“He was always dependable,” Nelson said. “You never had to worry about Willie getting out of line.”
Rodriguez’s specialty at A&M was the half-mile, a race he won at the Drake Relays, but he also ran the anchor leg of the mile relay team that set an Aggies’ school record in 1968.
After earning his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and a master’s in business, Rodriguez was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army, serving from 1970 to 1973 in Okinawa and leaving as a captain. He went on to work for Mobil for more than 40 years.
Rodriguez’s wife, Deborah Keilman, died of cancer in 1987, but he poured himself into his family, whether taking his children to A&M football games, watching his granddaughters’ cheer competitions, or accompanying siblings to five different Olympic Games.
But because of the coronavirus pandemic and the statewide stay-in-place order, most of the relatives who meant the world to Rodriguez will not be able to mourn him in person. In fact, many of his 12 surviving siblings and 46 nieces and nephews are stuck miles from each other, in Dallas and Houston and San Antonio and D’Hanis.
“That’s what makes it so hard,” his brother Manuel said. “I understand the reason for it. But it’s painful to be apart.”
On Wednesday, at a cemetery in D’Hanis not far from the church where he used to mow grass, rake leaves and gather pecans, the man who used to be the fastest runner in Medina County will be laid to rest with fewer than 10 people present, as mandated by law.
Among those saying goodbye will be his sons and the priest.
mfinger@express-news.net
Twitter: @mikefinger
"lasting" - Google News
April 12, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/2yUAnvM
On track and in life, William Rodriguez left lasting legacy - Houston Chronicle
"lasting" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2tpNDpA
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "On track and in life, William Rodriguez left lasting legacy - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment