Dr. James P. Rodman, 88, lifetime resident of Alliance, Ohio passed away at 2:30am Friday morning January 2, 2015 at the Sterling House of Alliance with his son Jeff at his side ending his long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
He was a man of many talents - engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, community volunteer, teacher, scientist, musician, designer, philanthropist - generous with a big heart but a family man first.
Born November 11, 1926 at 1305 Parkway Blvd. in Alliance to C.J. "Bill" and Hazel (Purcell) Rodman, he grew up with his brother Bob in Alliance at 1629 Overlook Drive. He had a retired polo pony "Eureka" stabled out back on which, when not riding, he would enjoy lying on his back while reading a book. He and Bob used short cuts across the roof to access their second floor bedrooms on many stealth excursions. As they expanded their interests in science, mysterious happenings such as a burst of flames across Overlook, foul odors from chemistry experiments, or the appearance of local wildlife on neighbor's steps were not uncommon.
As a teen, Dr. Rodman worked summer mornings at Alliance Machine Company (owned and run by his grandfather who was an engineer) then he headed to the train yards where he flagged in freight trains passing through the Alliance junction. For two summers, he and Bob traveled by train to a working ranch in Colorado where they were regular hands involved in all parts of running a ranch - shoeing, branding, herding, repairing fences and equipment, and learning cowboy songs.
He graduated from Western Reserve Academy in 1944 after which his entire graduating class enlisted for military service. He received an honorable discharge as the war's end. Dr. Rodman graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Physics from Mount Union in 1949 with a rare triple major in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry, and minors in Spanish and History.
He then went on to capture the greatest prize of his life, the heart of his college sweetheart, then Margaret Kinsey of Alliance (M.U.C. '51), whom he managed to convince to marry him in 1950 even after showing up to many dates in a vintage army truck.
They moved to St. Louis where he went on to receive his master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis in Experimental Nuclear Physics in 1951. They moved back to Alliance where he joined the Mount Union physics department in '51 as an assistant professor, and they started their family. There he worked until late 1959 when he was granted a leave of absence to pursue his PhD. at Yale. By that time the family had grown to include four children: Bill, Jeff, David and Gretchen. They bundled up the brood and headed off to Branford CT., for three years while Dr. Rodman earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in Astrophysics in 1963. While at Yale, he constructed a 20-inch reflector telescope with a memory circuit and equipment for studying radio emissions from the planet Jupiter, and he packed up his young family for a cross country trip to live in Tucson, AZ for several months while he conducted research at the nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory.
He returned to Mount Union to take over as head of the physics department from his mentor Dr. Forest "Frosty" Scheolenberger in 1962 where he taught his popular introduction to physics classes as well as advanced topics in optics, mechanics, and astrophysics. He loved to teach and he loved his students, taking great pride in their accomplishments. He taught for 30 more years, while taking only one sabbatical until his retirement in 1993. Even then, continued to serve the College as Staff Astronomer.
Dr. Rodman's generosity and creative genius extended well beyond the classroom of his cherished Alma Mater, Mount Union College as it was known during his days there. His broader contributions to the College included:
a�� Eight years of full-time service as Asst. Professor of Physics starting in '51 until taking a leave of absence to pursue his PhD. at Yale in '59. His time was fully donated and measured in the tens of thousands of hours.
a�� The Rodman Theater stage lighting system which he designed, wired, and installed with his lifelong friend Bill Bowman (MUC '56)
a�� The Clarke Observatory where at its original location he rebuilt and refurbished the original telescope and designed and installed the planetarium there.
a�� The Clarke Observatory when it was moved to adjoin East Hall where he designed the structure, oversaw its construction, moved the dome, personally wired the building and installed the telescope and planetarium.
a�� The Rodman Observatory formerly located atop Wilson Hall, now atop the Alliance High School, which he designed, underwrote and personally constructed with assistance from his good friend Judge R.R. "Denny" Clunk.
a�� Establishing FM radio station WRMU which he conceived, designed, built from war surplus, and operated the entire radio transmission system with his friend and colleague Sam Shimp, and of which he served as Director of Engineering for many years. He also designed and personally wired WRMU's original 200' transmission tower.
a�� Outfitting the M.U.C. Physics Lab where he designed and installed the central power source and distribution facility saving the College tens of thousands of dollars. He located and creatively outfitted it with war surplus devices rendering it an unusually complete and capable lab otherwise unaffordable to the College.
a�� Establishing the 1st M.U.C. Computer Center which he founded, engineered and ran for years within the M.U.C. Dept. of Physics.
a�� Creating the Rodman Lodge Observing Complex which he designed, built, and leased to the College at far below cost. M.U.C. students were the prime users of the facility where they could carry out their observations with high quality equipment free of scattered light from the city.
a�� Kicking off the Campus Walkways Lighting Initiative by personally installing the first lights to light several Campus walkways.
a�� The popular Eckler Garden which he conceived, designed, implemented and underwrote in honor of honored M.U.C. English professors "Mom" and "Pop" Eckler.
a�� The Chapman Hall Cloister which he conceived, designed, donated, and personally constructed.
a�� Public Lectures on Astronomy and Explosives staged to the delight
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of the many who attended over many years.
a�� Working a double load (22 contract hours) for many years so that students could have the full range and depth of study he felt they deserved from the M.U.C. Physics Program.
a�� The Rodman Family Admissions Center located in the University's Gartner Welcome Center which he and wife Maggie (M.U.C. '51), underwrote.
a�� Gifting back to M.U.C. the greater part of the sum of his paychecks over the years.
Dr. Rodman served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Western Reserve Academy; Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank; Member of the Board of Directors of The Alliance Machine Company; and Consultant to Diebold and Owens-Corning Glass Co.
His community service included Board Member and President of the Alliance Board of Education; Trustee and President of the Alliance Community Hospital Board; Member of the Board of the Alliance Y.M.C.A.; Member of the Board of the Alliance Community Concert Association; Member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Member of the Executive Committee of the Buckeye Council of the Boy Scouts of America; author of the Boy Scout's National Energy Merit Badge Requirements; and 32nd degree Mason and Shriner.
A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of England, Dr. Rodman has directed several National Science Foundation research grants at Mount Union College. Dr. Rodman's professional memberships include: American Physical Society; American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Astronomical Society; Astronomy Society of the Pacific; American Association of Physics Teachers; American Optical Society; American Institute of Physics; Maria Mitchell Association; Cleveland Astronomical Society; Pittsburgh Astronomical Society; Sigma Xi; and Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics Honorary Society). With a number of publications to his credit, he has served as a research associate in the Yale University Department of Astronomy and as consultant for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Dr. Rodman was Mount Union Faculty Lecturer (1965); received the Mount Union Great Teacher Award (1976); was honored with the Mayor of Alliance's Outstanding Community Service Award (1978); was Grand Marshal of the Alliance Carnation Festival Parade (1986); and served as M.U.C.'s College Marshall (1989-92).
Dr. Rodman's hobbies included: Egyptology; philosophy of religion; languages (he spoke 4 fluently); ham radio; sailing; tennis; skiing; inventing; restoration of war surplus army vehicles (to the delight of his boys); fencing teacher and instructor for the Mount Union College fencing program; famously, his crossword puzzles; and one of his greatest passions, as drummer and leader of the musical group the JR4 with Bill Bowman, Hugh Jae, and other friends along the way. He enjoyed the Wranglers Club with his father, and then with his sons, serving proudly as President of this historic Alliance club for many years.
Dr. Rodman's family has long been associated with Mount Union. His mother, the late Mrs. C.J. Rodman (Hazel), was graduated from the college in 1914 and served as an honorary trustee of Mont Union until her death in 1974. His father, the late C.J. "Bill" Rodman, recipient of an honorary L.L.D. degree from Mount Union in 1948, was recognized as an industrialist and philanthropist both at the college and in the community. Among those educational and civic enterprises made possible by the C. J. Rodman's are the: Rodman Playhouse of Mount Union College; Rodman Public Library in Alliance; Boy Scout Camp Rodman; Lilly M. Rodman Presbyterian Church Camp; and Butler-Rodman Park. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Robert L. "Bob" Rodman, of whom he stated he was second to none in his admiration.
Dr. Rodman's spirit lives on in his wife Margaret and their children William (Kathy) of Snowmass, CO and grandchildren David and Elissa; Jeffrey (Alexandra) of Baltimore, MD and grandchildren Drew and John; David (Sandy) of Alliance and grandchildren Molly and Sam; and Gretchen Zawaski (Mike) of Alliance and grandchildren Steven, Maggie Smith (Zawaski), and Callie.
Friends may call at the Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home, Friday, January 16th starting at 2:30pm. A ceremony celebrating the life of Dr. Rodman will follow at 4pm.
The Rodman family requests that contributions in memory of Dr. Rodman be made to the Greater Alliance Foundation and the University of Mount Union.
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He was a man of many talents - engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, community volunteer, teacher, scientist, musician, designer, philanthropist - generous with a big heart but a family man first.
Born November 11, 1926 at 1305 Parkway Blvd. in Alliance to C.J. "Bill" and Hazel (Purcell) Rodman, he grew up with his brother Bob in Alliance at 1629 Overlook Drive. He had a retired polo pony "Eureka" stabled out back on which, when not riding, he would enjoy lying on his back while reading a book. He and Bob used short cuts across the roof to access their second floor bedrooms on many stealth excursions. As they expanded their interests in science, mysterious happenings such as a burst of flames across Overlook, foul odors from chemistry experiments, or the appearance of local wildlife on neighbor's steps were not uncommon.
As a teen, Dr. Rodman worked summer mornings at Alliance Machine Company (owned and run by his grandfather who was an engineer) then he headed to the train yards where he flagged in freight trains passing through the Alliance junction. For two summers, he and Bob traveled by train to a working ranch in Colorado where they were regular hands involved in all parts of running a ranch - shoeing, branding, herding, repairing fences and equipment, and learning cowboy songs.
He graduated from Western Reserve Academy in 1944 after which his entire graduating class enlisted for military service. He received an honorable discharge as the war's end. Dr. Rodman graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Physics from Mount Union in 1949 with a rare triple major in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry, and minors in Spanish and History.
He then went on to capture the greatest prize of his life, the heart of his college sweetheart, then Margaret Kinsey of Alliance (M.U.C. '51), whom he managed to convince to marry him in 1950 even after showing up to many dates in a vintage army truck.
They moved to St. Louis where he went on to receive his master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis in Experimental Nuclear Physics in 1951. They moved back to Alliance where he joined the Mount Union physics department in '51 as an assistant professor, and they started their family. There he worked until late 1959 when he was granted a leave of absence to pursue his PhD. at Yale. By that time the family had grown to include four children: Bill, Jeff, David and Gretchen. They bundled up the brood and headed off to Branford CT., for three years while Dr. Rodman earned his Ph.D. from Yale University in Astrophysics in 1963. While at Yale, he constructed a 20-inch reflector telescope with a memory circuit and equipment for studying radio emissions from the planet Jupiter, and he packed up his young family for a cross country trip to live in Tucson, AZ for several months while he conducted research at the nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory.
He returned to Mount Union to take over as head of the physics department from his mentor Dr. Forest "Frosty" Scheolenberger in 1962 where he taught his popular introduction to physics classes as well as advanced topics in optics, mechanics, and astrophysics. He loved to teach and he loved his students, taking great pride in their accomplishments. He taught for 30 more years, while taking only one sabbatical until his retirement in 1993. Even then, continued to serve the College as Staff Astronomer.
Dr. Rodman's generosity and creative genius extended well beyond the classroom of his cherished Alma Mater, Mount Union College as it was known during his days there. His broader contributions to the College included:
a�� Eight years of full-time service as Asst. Professor of Physics starting in '51 until taking a leave of absence to pursue his PhD. at Yale in '59. His time was fully donated and measured in the tens of thousands of hours.
a�� The Rodman Theater stage lighting system which he designed, wired, and installed with his lifelong friend Bill Bowman (MUC '56)
a�� The Clarke Observatory where at its original location he rebuilt and refurbished the original telescope and designed and installed the planetarium there.
a�� The Clarke Observatory when it was moved to adjoin East Hall where he designed the structure, oversaw its construction, moved the dome, personally wired the building and installed the telescope and planetarium.
a�� The Rodman Observatory formerly located atop Wilson Hall, now atop the Alliance High School, which he designed, underwrote and personally constructed with assistance from his good friend Judge R.R. "Denny" Clunk.
a�� Establishing FM radio station WRMU which he conceived, designed, built from war surplus, and operated the entire radio transmission system with his friend and colleague Sam Shimp, and of which he served as Director of Engineering for many years. He also designed and personally wired WRMU's original 200' transmission tower.
a�� Outfitting the M.U.C. Physics Lab where he designed and installed the central power source and distribution facility saving the College tens of thousands of dollars. He located and creatively outfitted it with war surplus devices rendering it an unusually complete and capable lab otherwise unaffordable to the College.
a�� Establishing the 1st M.U.C. Computer Center which he founded, engineered and ran for years within the M.U.C. Dept. of Physics.
a�� Creating the Rodman Lodge Observing Complex which he designed, built, and leased to the College at far below cost. M.U.C. students were the prime users of the facility where they could carry out their observations with high quality equipment free of scattered light from the city.
a�� Kicking off the Campus Walkways Lighting Initiative by personally installing the first lights to light several Campus walkways.
a�� The popular Eckler Garden which he conceived, designed, implemented and underwrote in honor of honored M.U.C. English professors "Mom" and "Pop" Eckler.
a�� The Chapman Hall Cloister which he conceived, designed, donated, and personally constructed.
a�� Public Lectures on Astronomy and Explosives staged to the delight
continued...
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2
Next
...continued
of the many who attended over many years.
a�� Working a double load (22 contract hours) for many years so that students could have the full range and depth of study he felt they deserved from the M.U.C. Physics Program.
a�� The Rodman Family Admissions Center located in the University's Gartner Welcome Center which he and wife Maggie (M.U.C. '51), underwrote.
a�� Gifting back to M.U.C. the greater part of the sum of his paychecks over the years.
Dr. Rodman served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Western Reserve Academy; Member of the Board of Directors of United Bank; Member of the Board of Directors of The Alliance Machine Company; and Consultant to Diebold and Owens-Corning Glass Co.
His community service included Board Member and President of the Alliance Board of Education; Trustee and President of the Alliance Community Hospital Board; Member of the Board of the Alliance Y.M.C.A.; Member of the Board of the Alliance Community Concert Association; Member of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Member of the Executive Committee of the Buckeye Council of the Boy Scouts of America; author of the Boy Scout's National Energy Merit Badge Requirements; and 32nd degree Mason and Shriner.
A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of England, Dr. Rodman has directed several National Science Foundation research grants at Mount Union College. Dr. Rodman's professional memberships include: American Physical Society; American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Astronomical Society; Astronomy Society of the Pacific; American Association of Physics Teachers; American Optical Society; American Institute of Physics; Maria Mitchell Association; Cleveland Astronomical Society; Pittsburgh Astronomical Society; Sigma Xi; and Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics Honorary Society). With a number of publications to his credit, he has served as a research associate in the Yale University Department of Astronomy and as consultant for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Dr. Rodman was Mount Union Faculty Lecturer (1965); received the Mount Union Great Teacher Award (1976); was honored with the Mayor of Alliance's Outstanding Community Service Award (1978); was Grand Marshal of the Alliance Carnation Festival Parade (1986); and served as M.U.C.'s College Marshall (1989-92).
Dr. Rodman's hobbies included: Egyptology; philosophy of religion; languages (he spoke 4 fluently); ham radio; sailing; tennis; skiing; inventing; restoration of war surplus army vehicles (to the delight of his boys); fencing teacher and instructor for the Mount Union College fencing program; famously, his crossword puzzles; and one of his greatest passions, as drummer and leader of the musical group the JR4 with Bill Bowman, Hugh Jae, and other friends along the way. He enjoyed the Wranglers Club with his father, and then with his sons, serving proudly as President of this historic Alliance club for many years.
Dr. Rodman's family has long been associated with Mount Union. His mother, the late Mrs. C.J. Rodman (Hazel), was graduated from the college in 1914 and served as an honorary trustee of Mont Union until her death in 1974. His father, the late C.J. "Bill" Rodman, recipient of an honorary L.L.D. degree from Mount Union in 1948, was recognized as an industrialist and philanthropist both at the college and in the community. Among those educational and civic enterprises made possible by the C. J. Rodman's are the: Rodman Playhouse of Mount Union College; Rodman Public Library in Alliance; Boy Scout Camp Rodman; Lilly M. Rodman Presbyterian Church Camp; and Butler-Rodman Park. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Robert L. "Bob" Rodman, of whom he stated he was second to none in his admiration.
Dr. Rodman's spirit lives on in his wife Margaret and their children William (Kathy) of Snowmass, CO and grandchildren David and Elissa; Jeffrey (Alexandra) of Baltimore, MD and grandchildren Drew and John; David (Sandy) of Alliance and grandchildren Molly and Sam; and Gretchen Zawaski (Mike) of Alliance and grandchildren Steven, Maggie Smith (Zawaski), and Callie.
Friends may call at the Cassaday-Turkle-Christian Funeral Home, Friday, January 16th starting at 2:30pm. A ceremony celebrating the life of Dr. Rodman will follow at 4pm.
The Rodman family requests that contributions in memory of Dr. Rodman be made to the Greater Alliance Foundation and the University of Mount Union.
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