BLOOMINGTON - Rodney Floyd Sakemiller, formerly of Bloomington, died March 5, 2009. "Rod" was 66 years young! A loving son, husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
Private services and internment will be Thursday at Park Hill Cemetery, officiated by Associate Pastor Allen Steinbeck of Trinity Lutheran Church, Bloomington.
Rodney was born Dec. 30, 1942, in Randolph. He was a 1960 graduate of Bloomington High School and attended Bradley and Illinois State universities. Having a father who was an avid ham radio operator (W9PRV), Rod also became a ham (KA6GEG) and chose radio communications for his filed in the United States Air Force when he joined in March 1966.
While on his first leave, he married his high school sweetheart, Mardelle Kay Bates, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 801 S. Madison St., Bloomington, on April 25, 1966. They spent their first year of marriage at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Miss., and the following year at Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Mont., where he cross-trained to become an Electrical Power Lineman Specialist. The next year he spent in Thailand at Takhli RTAFB during the Vietnam War from which he returned an honorable Veteran of Foreign Wars. His fourth and final year of service took them both to Edwards AFB, Edwards, Calif.
Having a love for the outdoors and being captivated by the California sunshine, Rodney and Mardi resided for the next 32 years in the Antelope Valley and Juniper Hills areas, where they raised their three California girls. Employed for those 32 years by the Los Angeles County Communications Department, Rod retired as a communications tower and line working supervisor in May 2002. He lived and loved his retirement years and becoming a grandpa.
Rodney is survived by his wife of 43 years, Mardelle Kay Bates Sakemiller; their three daughters, Cynthia Rae Sakemiller (Christopher) Bolls, Jennifer Lynn Sakemiller (Christopher) Jennings and Michelle Marie Sakemiller (Craig) Lee; and six grandchildren, Mackenzie Kaytlynn-Marie Bolls, 8; Jackson Floyd Bolls, 6; McQuaid Lee Jennings, 3; Quinn Leona Jennings, 1; Alynn Kay Lee, 4; and Tyler Lillie Lee, 2. Rodney is also survived by his loving mother, Ruth Marion Martens Sakemiller, 93; his sister, Sondra Kay Sakemiller Laesch-Knobloch; two brothers-in-law, Don Raymond Bates and Gerald Knobloch; two nieces, Laurie Kay Laesch Kimball and Corlina Dawn Bates Thompson-Whitehouse; two nephews, Woodrow Sakemiller and Louis Paul Martens; a great nephew, Jacob Joseph Kimball, 10; and three great nieces, Abby Jo Kimball, 8; Crystal Dawn Thompson Davenport; and Melissa Nichole Whitehouse.
Preceding Rodney in death were his father, Floyd Jacob Sakemiller; his mother-in-law, Florence Mae Quosick Bates; seven aunts, Barbara Wiley Sakemiller, Grace Schultz Martens, Betty Stauffer Martens, Vera Maude Sakemiller Root, Evelyn Belle Sakemiller Baird, Patricia Huckle Sakemiller and Hazel Mae Martens; three uncles, Virgil Martens, Norman Baird and Faye Root; a brother-in-law, Willis Dwayne Laesch; and one great nephew, Joseph Willis Kimball.
"Rest in Peace, my Love. Your Spirit has begun a new chapter."
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The following was written by classmates for our 50th Reunion Booklet. Led by a dedicated team of local classmates, the project was titled:
"BHS CLASS OF '60 FOOTPRINTS"
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After we learned to square dance during gym in sixth grade at Emerson School, Rodney invited the whole class to his "country" home (near Laesch Dairy) for a big outdoor square dance party. After the dancing, I remember sitting in a circle--boy/girl, boy/girl--and we were all supposed to kiss the person next to us. I bestowed my first kiss on Dick Thompson there (and it was my last kiss for quite a few years).
(Barb Stumm)
Rodney died in March, 2009, and was buried in April in Bloomington with full military honors.
He and I were not much more than acquaintances in high school, but we established a very close friendship from 1964 to 1966, when we were both attending ISU and I was a boarder in his home, renting a spare room.
His mother, Ruth, was a woman from the old school. She baked everything from scratch, and none of it was diet food. I think I gained at least 25 pounds over the two years I ate at her table. Rodney had exceptional mechanical and electrical skills and kept my ʻ54 Ford running on more than one occasion.
In the spring of ʻ66, Rodney got married and joined the Air Force. I was still working on a degrees at ISU, and we lost contact.
After his discharge from the Air Force in 1970, he accepted a position with Los Angeles County as a lineman working on the county power distribution system. Over the years, he worked his way up to a supervisory position.
When Rodney and Mardi bought a small home in a rural area of the San Gabriel mountains, a few miles north of L.A., their hillside location turned out to be too much valley for television reception. Rodney decided to do something about it.
He strung a wire to an antenna he mounted on top of a nearby mountain. He had to “plant” a
series of poles in rugged, rocky terrain where there were no roads or fixed access. His neighbors had
the same TV reception problem, so he ran lines for them and suddenly had a small business on the
side.
The whole enterprise took know-how, a strong back, and determination over time. These were
qualities Rodney possessed. When he undertook a “project,” he usually stayed the course.
Years later, he and Mardi moved a few miles east to Palmdale on the high desert, and some years
after that, they sold and bought a ranch in Pearblossom, a few miles east of Palmdale. Mardi still lives there. All three of their daughters and families currently reside in California.
In the summer of ʻ92, my wife and I visited Rodney and Mardi for a couple of weeks. Itʼs still a fond memory. We jumped back into ʻ60ʼs silliness as if the 26-year separation had never occurred.
As far as I know, people in that valley are still watching TV, courtesy of Rodneyʼs grit. That sounds like a footprint, doesnʼt it?
(Jim Bennett)
I first met Rodney in the 6th grade at Oakland School. He was not much of a sports fan, as I remember, but we got along well. His parents ran a lumber yard, and he knew a lot about lumber and tools. We would walk to his home on Morrisey Drive after school, and he would talk the whole time. He taught me that, if you were walking along the road and a big semi was coming, you could raise your right hand and pull down as if you were pulling a chain. The semi driver would then blast his horn. Somehow, as young kids, we got a charge out of that. Times sure change. Anyway, we both were able to graduate from 6th grade and went on to Washington Jr. High.
Rodney was always a happy-go-lucky kid and would often push the buttons of the teachers. He was never a bad kid, just mischievous. Paper wads were a specialty of his, as was talking in class.
We all remember Cliff Drew, our math teacher. Mr. Drew, I learned in later years, was a really nice man. His wife Flo worked for State Farm. I don't believe they ever had children, and both were just genuinely nice people. In 1953 - 54, however, Mr. Drew was the most feared teacher at Washington Jr. High. He demanded that you do your best, and in order for that to happen, discipline had to be enforced. As I said, Rodney could really get under a teacher's skin, and with Rodney and Mr. Drew tensions had been building for some weeks. Rod would persist in being a distraction, and Mr. Drew's fuse was getting shorter. My seat in class was on the left side near the windows at the back so I had a great view of the entire room and everyone in it. Rodney was seated in the area of right center.
I don't remember what Rodney did to set off the explosion, but I looked up to see Mr. Drew running
-- yes, running -- toward Rodney's desk. Rodney slumped down as Mr. Drew arrived. Mr. Drew hovered over Rodney and all at once picked Rodney up by his shirt collar and lifted him right out of his desk. Rodney turned white. Mr. Drew shook Rod and then literally slammed Rodney down in his seat. I swear, you could hear a pin drop. Rod was afraid to move and stayed in his dropped position for several minutes. As for the rest of us, we were sweating, at least I was. As for Rodney, he was a model student, at least for Mr. Drew, from then on. Rodney never went to the principal's office, and no parentteacher meeting occurred. As for Mr. Drew, if today's stupid laws and regulations were in place in 1953-54, Mr. Drew would still be serving time at the maximum security prison. Back then discipline was in house, was effective, and we were the better for it.
(John Noel)
Roddney and I went through school together starting in the first grade at Price School which was a little country school on Ireland Grove Road, grades 1-6, all in the same room. Since our parents were friends and did a lot of square dancing together. I was also friends with his sister, Sondra. I last visited with Rodney at the funeral home after the death of his father. He looked the same, a little older, hair was grey instead of blonde. Same old Rodney, friendly, happy, smiling ear to ear. We had a good visit.
(Marilyn Golden)