Lois M. Rodriguez
Lois Margaret Rodriguez, beloved Wife, Mother, and Grandmother, passed peacefully from this world on March 9th, 2017 at the age of 92. With a perfect sense of timing, she passed exactly 5 years to the day after the death of her husband of 63 years, Henry J. Rodriguez. Lois had many health challenges
in her final years, but she faced them as she lived her life – with great inner strength and good humor.
In this, as in all things, Lois provided a wonderful example for her family, and she will be deeply missed by all those whose lives she touched.
Lois was born in Alameda, California on Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 1925, the only child of Chester and Mildred Stutt. In keeping with her Scotch-Irish heritage and beautiful red hair, she was a vivacious, friendly and curious child who loved animals, reading and writing poetry, playing the piano, and traveling with her family. Lois attended Haight School in Alameda, The Anna Head School in Berkeley, and Mills College in Oakland before graduating with a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1947. It was in a Spanish class at Cal where Lois met former Air Force Officer and
future husband Henry, and after a 3 year courtship they married in 1949 and remained happily together until his passing at the age of 91 in 2012. After they married, Lois worked at the H. C. Capwell Company and as an Alameda public school teacher to help support her husband through law school and into the start of what would become a long and successful legal career in Oakland. In that first decade of their marriage, Lois and Henry also became the proud parents of three boys – Brian, Eric and Dana. From the very start, Lois was a deeply devoted and caring Mother who always made time for and encouraged the interests of her children, reading to them, and teaching them about nature and the world. Lois had a great talent for cultivating plants, and created a superb garden at the family home in the Oakland Hills, making it a showplace of flowers with specimens from around the world. She had so many compliments on her abilities that after her boys were grown she started her own floral design business – Flowers by Lois. She was also a longtime member of the Skyline Garden Club, an enthusiastic docent at the Oakland Museum of California, and an avid volunteer at the Museum’s annual White Elephant Sale. Lois never lost her love of travel and curiosity for the world around her, and she and Henry delighted in their excursions throughout the United States and Mexico, and later, when Henry became a Commissioner for the Port of Oakland they made extensive trips to Europe, China, and Japan. At home, they were founding members of the Lakeview Club and the Oakland Hills Tennis Club, where they were widely known for their wicked skills in mixed doubles. But for all her activities, Lois’s greatest joy was her family. She gave all of her generous and kind spirit to help and nurture her children and later, her grandchildren. To the end of her life her great ability to both listen and offer wise advice was a blessing to those she loved.
Lois is survived by her son Brian (Marilyn) and their children Alexandra and Graham, her son Eric(Patty) and their daughter Natanee, her son Dana and his life partner Greg, nieces Doris, Dolores, Ardith, and Sylvia (Nick), nephews Robert (Joan), John (Corine), Ward (Susan), Gary (Susan), and the many members of her extended family and devoted circle of friends.
Lois will rest next to her beloved husband Henry at the Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland.
To those who would wish to make a donation in her memory, the family suggests: The Berkeley Humane Society, 2700 Ninth Street, Berkeley, California 94710 The East Bay Opera League, 3871 Piedmont Ave. #111, Oakland, California 94611
Our family would also like to thank – Sutter Care at Home, Comfort Keepers of Alameda, the staff of Summit Hospital, Gentiva Hospice, and Mercy Retirement and Care Center for all their caring assistance in Lois’s final years.
A memorial service for Lois will be held on April 1st, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 1700 Santa Clara Ave. in Alameda, with a lunch gathering to follow at a separate location.