Obituary of Ethel V. Rodriguez

Ethel V. Rodriguez (née Koster), age 95, passed away Thursday, January 16, 2020. She was residing in Essex Connecticut. Daughter of Otto and Frances Koster, she was born in Rost Township, Minnesota. She was baptized and confirmed in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Rost, MN. She graduated from Lakefield High School in 1942, and went on to Worthington Minnesota Junior College and University of Minnesota, earning a bachelors degree in Medical Technology. She worked as a medical technologist in Cincinnati and Cleveland. In Cleveland she met and married Ferdinand Rodriguez in 1951. They settled in Ithaca, New York where Ferdy was a professor at Cornell University for 40 years. They were among several families that helped establish Trinity Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Ithaca. Ethel was a homemaker, raising two daughters. She was an excellent seamstress, even learning men’s tailoring and upholstery. They enjoyed several sabbatical visits to England. She returned for a time to work as a medical technician, requiring much study to be up to date with changes in the medical field. In retirement, they returned to Cleveland, making frequent trips to help with grandchildren. She and Ferdy recently moved to Connecticut to be near their daughter. They were married for 68 years. She is survived by her husband, Ferdinand Rodriguez, daughters Holly (and Russell Rushmeier) and Lida (and Neal Bringe), grandchildren Peter (and Melody), John, Gloria, Thomas, and Nathanael (Bringe), and great grandchildren Alfred, Katherine, and Anne (Bringe). She was preceded in death by brother Roland, sisters Gertrude, Margaret, Mary and her twin sister Edith. Burial will be at Lutheran Cemetery in Cleveland, OH, January 30, 2:00pm.