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RODIA Louis Anthony
Birth: 31 Aug 1926 Winslow Twp., N.J.
Death: 15 Aug 2013 Cape May Court House, N.J.
Notes
!PUBL
Rodio Fam Tree on ancestry
1930 in Winslow, Camden Co., N.J.
Rodia, Rodio, Dramis Fam Tree on ancestry (has photo)
obit of Louis M. Rodia
http://hosting-10528.tributes.com/obituary/show/Louis-A.-Rodia-96270567
RODIA, LOUIS A. JR., 86, of Cape May Court House, passed away on Thursday,
August 15, 2013 at his home. Born in Winslow Township to the late Louis A. and
Emelia (Rodio) Rodia, Sr., he moved to Cape May Court House over 50 years ago from
North Wildwood. He was an Army Veteran of World War II and worked as Public
Relations director for Cape May County. He was an outdoor writer that contributed to
the Shoppe, Cape May Star and Wave, The Press of Atlantic City, Ocean City Sentinel
Ledger, Philadelphia Daily News, and the Doylestown Intelligencer.
Mr. Rodia was a member of the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the
Outdoor Writers Association of American, and various other writer groups. He loved
hunting and fishing and was a member of the Cape Rose Deer Club in Delaware and
the Rosedale Deer Club in Waterford.
Mr. Rodia is survived by his sons, Louis M. (Debbie) Rodia of Trenton and Bill
(Andrea) Rodia of Phoenix, AZ; his companion, Eileen Abadie; his six grandchildren,
Rachel, Emily, Mike, Samantha, Chris, and Lauren; and his nieces and nephews. He
was preceded in death by his wife Ines, his siblings Joseph, Vincent, and Veronica,
and his granddaughter, Nicole.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the
Radzieta Funeral Home, 9 Hand Avenue, Cape May Court House, where viewings will
be held on Tuesday, August 20 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and on Wednesday from 10:00
to 11:00 a.m. Burial will be private for the family. Memorial donations may be made to
the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.
---
Lou Rodia: Fishing writer Lou Rodia dies at 88
The longtime resident of Cape May Court House had been writing for area publications
since 1952.
Longtime South Jersey fishing and outdoor writer Lou Rodia, who died Wednesday at
88, was remembered by his colleagues as an amazingly productive journalist, a
visionary public servant and a consummate angler.
"Over the years, he probably turned out more amount of writing than any of us," said
Ben Callaway, a fellow outdoor writer.
Rodia, a longtime resident of Cape May Court House, served in Europe with the U.S.
Army in World War II and got a job out of Temple University as a reporter,
photographer and columnist with the weekly Wildwood Leader in 1952. He also
worked for the Cape May County Gazette for five years before serving for 25 years as
the Cape May County public affairs director.
After his retirement from the county in 1988, Rodia edited a paper called Eastern
Outdoors and contributed to the Shoppe, Doylestown Intelligencier, Philadelphia Daily
News, Cape May Star and Wave, Ocean City Sentinel Ledger and The Press of
Atlantic City.
"Lou and Ben Callaway got me into outdoor and fishing writing, I can't remember how
long ago, (maybe) 30 to 35 years ago," said Press fishing columnist Mike Shepherd.
"When I took over The Press fishing contest, Lou helped me out in the early stages.
... Whenever anybody mentioned his name, it was always, 'Hey, Lou wrote something
and you didn't,' or the other way around. But I always had an answer: he's my hero."
Callaway, 86, called Rodia and himself "The Last of the Mohicans."
"I first met Lou when I moved back in 1957 from working for the Denver Post in
Colorado to the Daily News in Philadelphia," Callaway said. "They wanted me to write
an outdoor column, and coming from Colorado, except for trout fishing with a fly rod, I
knew nothing about it. So my first encounter with saltwater fishing at the shore was
when I met Lou at a tackle shop down in Wildwood, and he was very, very helpful."
Rodia, Callaway said, was "a do-it-all guy. He could rig baits, fight fish, work on the
engines of boats -- he could do everything. And he fished everything from sea bass up
to white marlin. He did it all, and he had enthusiasm for it."
Eileen Abadie, Rodia's companion for 29 years, said that Rodia joked he had two
vices: "Fishing and hunting."
"He started freshwater fishing at the age of 6 at his home in Stratford, (Camden
County)," Abadie said. "He never learned how to swim, because when he saw water,
he put a fishing pole in it."
Gerald Thornton, Cape May County's freeholder director, said Rodia was "a real asset
to the county of Cape May" as public relations director.
"I worked with him for many years," Thornton said. "Our Department of Tourism was
really created by Lou Rodia. He was such a driving force behind tourism in the county
of Cape May. Any success we have had in the tourism department, he was the
foundation. ... And he was very kind to me as a young freeholder."
The current head of the Department of Tourism, Diane Wieland, recalled how Rodia's
initiatives really invigorated the marketing of the county.
"In the beginning, it was all about fishing, birding and beaches," Wieland said.
"Before he retired, he really started the 'shoulder season.' And he started 'writers'
weekends' where he invited 30 to 40 journalists to come down."
Rodia also began the initiative to promote the county at travel shows, as well as
opening the county's tourism office in Canada.
'He really left his mark on tourism in the county," Wieland said.
Rodia is survived by his sons, Bill, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Louie, of Trenton. Funeral
arrangements had not been set Thursday.
Press of Atlantic City, The (NJ) - Friday, August 16, 2013
obit of Vincent Rodia
Parents
RODIA Louis Anthony (8 Aug 1896 - 2 Dec 1953)
RODIA Amelia (Millie) (1903 - ABT 1968)
Siblings
RODIA Louis Anthony (31 Aug 1926 - 15 Aug 2013)
RODIA Joseph William (4 Aug 1928 - 14 Mar 1985)
RODIA Vincent (2 Aug 1930 - 15 Jan 1998)
RODIA Veronica (15 May 1936 - 7 Feb 2013)
Marriage To BADA Ines R. (27 Nov 1926 - 24 Dec 1982)
m.
Notes
Children by BADA Ines R. 27 Nov 1926 - 24 Dec 1982
RODIA William J. ()
RODIA Louis M. (23 Apr 1952 - 22 Apr 2016)
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