Roy C Rodriguez

FRENCHTOWN ~ Roy Carreon Rodriguez, 83, of Frenchtown passed away on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, with his family by his side. Roy was born on Oct 15, 1937 to Miguel and Maria Rodriguez in San Antonio, Texas.

First and foremost Roy was a devoted Christian. He was born into the Catholic church, but he was always interested in everyone’s perspective in God’s word and loved discussing his religious views. Roy eventually converted to the Protestant faith and was a member of the Salvation Army Church for a number of years. finally joining the West Valley Assembly Church recently where he loved his weekly devotional meetings and discussions with its members until his death.

On a training mission in the back country, the ration drop did not arrive on day 4. A young soldier came up to Roy and said “master sergeant, when are we going to eat” Roy replied, “there is a meal just down the road. All you have to do is tighten your belt a notch or two and keep walking”. When they made camp, Roy gave that boy the last of his rations he had in his pack.

Strength and leadership, with compassion; that was his hallmark.

Roy was a man of great fortitude, tough as nails when it was required. He never complained to others about his problems, but would always take the time to listen to others.

Roy graduated from Frenchtown High School in 1958 and immediately joined the railroad gangs on the Great Northern Railroad, which eventually became Burlington Northern and quickly worked his way up to a heavy machine operator, which he held until his retirement in 2000. He joined the Army National Guard in 1966, where he went to jump school and proudly became a n integral part of the Airborne Special Forces team which allowed him to jump out of airplanes (on purpose), which he loved. Roy retired after 37 years as a Green Beret E8 Master Sargent in the 19th Special Forces group. He was so very proud of the roles he played both on the railroad and in the military and talked about his many adventures during his long retirement from them both. Roy had an amazing work ethic and passed that on to his children.

He traveled all over the state of Montana during his career. It was hard to name a town that Roy hadn’t been to, or what roads you would need to take to get there.

Roy was a man of God, respected in his community and loved by his family and friends. He will be missed forever and his stories will live far beyond his generation.

Roy (Rohilio) Carreon Rodriguez is survived by his loving wife of almost 61 years, Sandra Jean Rodriguez. He is also survived by his seven children, Betsy (Christian), Tammy (Gene), Diana (Jerry), Thomas, Christina, Rebecca and Joel, seventeen grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren.

The Celebration of Roy’s life will be held Friday, May 7, 2021 at Garden City Funeral Home at 1:30pm. A military celebration will be held at the Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery at 3pm of the same day. All are welcome!