He attended college at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX where he met and married his wife Eva.  He received his bachelor's degree from Mansfield State College (Now Mansfield University) and earned his Masters Degree from Elmira College.

Rod was an educator for over 33 years in the Elmira City School District.  He taught students of all levels from remedial to advanced.  He taught mathematics, often incorporating classical music, current events, & pop culture.  Anything to make a child want to learn.

He led cultural field trips to New York City.  His students would participate in a math-a-thon to raise the money they needed for the trip, getting pledges for each equation they proved.  Any excess money raised by a students was his or hers to use as spending money.  Students had to maintain a minimum grade point average in order to participate.  In this was Rod taught not only math but also how to budget, save and work towards achieving goals.

He led students in similar math-a-thons to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.  This hospital focuses on children with catastrophic illnesses such as cancer.

From January through April his weeknights were spent preparing income taxes for Sharon Enterprises in Elmira, NY.  He also ran his own accounting business from his home, charging only what he knew his clients could afford and often accepting goods and services from those that had only those to offer.

He was completely dedicated to his family, his wife Eva and children Quinton and Rebecca.  Everything he did he did for them.  Making their house even more of a home by putting in a pool and hosting pool parties for the neighborhood.  He saved each year to take his family to places he was never able to go when he was growing up."  They traveled around by camper cross country, went to Disney World, and on Cruises.  He worked 3 jobs so he could send his kids to study abroad.  He told them to follow their dreams and encouraged music and the arts, attending every performance and recital.  He would sit down every night helping his children with their homework and watched proudly as they went on to some of the nations top schools.  His mantra was, Above all, Family First.

In January 2001 (Super Bowl Weekend) he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells.  When it develops the body produces a large amount of abnormal white blood cells that do not function properly.  In Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML, the body creates these abnormal blood cells very quickly causing the disease to worsen rapidly.  He battled AML for almost a year with several remissions and relapses.  He passed away November 23, 2001 while visiting his daughter in San Antonio, TX for Thanksgiving.

He had been in remission for several months.  Though he was hopeful, he knew if the leukemia ever returned he would not go through any more of painful treatments.  He relapsed on Thanksgiving night and passed away early the next morning.

With so many relatives on both sides of the family residing in TX, only four were not present and they flew in from Florida, Washington, and California.  A service was conducted in his sister's home in New Braunfels, TX on that Saturday.  A service was also held in Elmira, NY the following week for hundreds of friends, colleagues, and students (He taught over 2 generations).  A small service led by his brother was held in Miami, FL to comfort those that he touched there.

He was a man of humble origins who believed that anyone could accomplish anything they set out to as long as they worked hard and believed in themselves.