Page 73 - Anthology

We probably walked the rest of the way to Mama Lita’s and Bertha was in tears, being somewhat
scratched up. This was a learning experience for both of us. Nevertheless, it took a lot of argument from
me to convince Bertha that riding a bike through a sandy arroyo with a passenger on board is not a piece
of cake!

Growing-up as kids we were playmates; neighbors were not close by. The Abran and Ramoncita Vigil
family consisted of mostly girls and they would come to play. They permitted me to join in hopscotch and
jacks. The time would come, however, when the girls would have to play softball with me.

During the high school years, we were permitted to go to high school dances in groups, again with the
Vigil girls. Then I went to Santa Fe High School and our social life continued during the summer; I went
on to college at New Mexico State (then New Mexico A & M) and went to war. Bertha stayed home, went
to work at the general store, Bond and Willard. She helped our parents with the younger siblings.

During the summer of 1945, I was home for three months, having survived the Battle of the Bulge, and
three months of being a Prisoner of War, and Bertha and I double dated a couple of times. (These were
the days when cars and gasoline were extremely scarce). The diversion was dancing and the larger the
hall and orchestra the better! By January of 1946 I had enrolled in Graduate School at Ohio State
University, met and married Lorraine Ditzler. We married in April 1948. Meanwhile Santiago Martinez
was courting Bertha and they were married in August of the same year.

Carmen, our first child was born in 1950, and Ymelda was born to Bertha and Santiago in 1952. Our
other three daughters–Teresa, Carla and Rosa, were paired closely by age with Ymelda, Dolores and
Rita. The Rodriguez girls loved to spend the night with the Martinez girls when in Espanola; Bertha once
said that she had never heard so much giggling as when all seven girls were together!

Bertha and the three girls came to visit Lexington once, probably in 1959. When the Martinez girls came
to visit the girls played store–all the merchandise was spread out in our living room. The Rodriguez girls
usually played house or school. Bertha and Santiago attended our 40th wedding anniversary in
Lexington in May 1988 and we attended theirs in New Mexico later that August.

When my mother, Lugardita passed away, Bertha was the first person that my father depended on for
assistance, as always, the responsible oldest daughter of the family. She had to be convinced to find a
very capable care taker for Dad. She managed her household and the dry goods department at Bond
and Willard for a time after she was married and helped Santiago with the appliance business.

She was an expert at business and relating to people and had an incredible ability to find the right item for
the person who was shopping. Lorraine has always said that her best shopping was done with Bertha at
her side; Bertha’s comment was “Let’s buy ourselves something nice–we deserve it!”

May she rest in peace, joining Santiago and other members of our joint families in Heaven!

EDUCATION:

Santa Fe High School
New Mexico State University: 1939-1943 B.S. Agriculture
The Ohio State University: Ph.D. in Entomology

My father Manuel D. Rodriguez was a WWI veteran. He fought in all of the big battles and even served in
the army of occupation. The Rhineland Occupation took place following the armistice that ended the
fighting of WWI on 11 November 1918. The occupying armies consisted of American, Belgian, British
and French forces. He came home to Espanola, New Mexico, and married his sweetheart Lugardita
Salazar.