Raul S. Rodriguez

Our Lord called Mr. Raul Rodriguez home on Thursday, September 24, 2009.

Raul had been hospitalized since he walked into a Warner Robins hospital on June 23, 2009 for dialysis and subsequently transported to Macon, Georgia for quadruple bypass surgery. He turned 79 years old on August 5 while still in I.C.U., but continued battling complications from diabetes and kidney function loss.

Raul came to the United States sixty-five years ago after a hard life growing up working his father's vast orange groves in Los Sabinos, Nuevo Leon. Following a few migrant jobs in the Rio Grande Valley, he came to Corpus Christi to work at Texas Laundry on Staples St. He married his wife Ernestina on February 19, 1955 in Mexico and arranged to have her also emigrate here. Eagerly learning English, Raul became an electrical technician at Bradley's Motor and Armature works on Port St., working there several years while studying further and laying the foundation for his life's goal of becoming a professional photographer. He kept that wish since his childhood when he first saw a roving photographer in Mexico who used a mule to carry the huge wooden camera with black cloth, tripod, processing chemical bottles, and explosive "Flash powder" for taking family portraits at peoples' farm houses.

With the support and assistance of his wife Ernestina, Raul converted his living room on Castenon street into a portrait studio and closets into dark rooms, as he began full time photography when he opened R & R Photo Studio at 3308 Ayers St in Corpus Christi in the mid 1960"s. Unhappy with the color quality and delay of big photo processing labs in the north, Raul ordered and installed the first color photo processor in all of South Texas, thus acquiring customers such as Roosevelt Baker, and even some of his local competitors, who couldn't wait for mail order processing. Eventually earning his U. S. citizenship, Raul's work ranged from local quinceaneras and weddings to industrial and aerial photography, including some work for military installations and even NASA.

Raul eventually expanded his family business and color labs into R & R Photo-Technics moving to larger 3304 Ayers Street where he began developing films and Ektachrome slides. His trademark yellow vans thus helped him become a legend in the area, often using the large Mobile Video Studio to document the construction phases, christenings, then launches of the huge Baker Marine Offshore Oil Rigs built in Ingleside, Texas.

In 1991 Raul and Ernestina retired and moved to Houston, Texas and later to Warner Robins, Georgia. Raul Rodriguez was preceded in death by his parents Santiago and Lucia, and his sister Lydia of Los Sabinos, N.L., Mexico.

Treasuring his memory are by his loving wife of fifty-five years, Ernestina, Warner Robins; children, Ruben Rodriguez (Donna), Corpus Christi, Texas, Lollie Galan (Paul), Houston, Texas, Jimmy Rodriguez (Lisa), Warner Robins, and Lucy Gorla (John), Washington, DC; grandchildren, Robert, Kent, Amber, Gabriel, Bianca, Corpus Christi; Tiffany, Justin, Crystal, and Cataryna, Houston, Texas; Becky, Elizabeth, Natalie, Warner Robins, great-grandchildren, Kara, Kain, Kassidy, Gavin, Seth, Ryan and Lilly; brothers Baudelio, Monterrey, NL, Reynaldo, Arnulfo, Israel and Jesus, all of Houston, Texas; sister, Armandina, of Allende, NL; numerous nephews and nieces.

There will be a rosary at 7:00 p.m., with visitation to follow until 9:00 p.m., on Friday, October 2, 2009, at Klein Funeral Home, 9719 Wortham Boulevard, Houston TX 77065, (832) 678-3900. Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.


Funeral Home:
McCullough Funeral Home
417 S. Houston Lake Rd.
Warner Robins, GA
US 31088