Rodney Apida Obituary

To the entire Apida family ~ Our most sincere condolences on the death of your beloved Rod. We have lived in River Grove a long time and knew Rod through Little League. Rod was our son Brian´s Coach on the Cubs. Rod was a super nice guy and a great Coach. He was very happy when Brian went on to college in Madison and he would always ask me how our Badger was doing. For many years we enjoyed seeing them at the local breakfast place along with Sharon, Barbara and Marina. Such memories are held close in our hearts. In his honor we say, "On, Wisconsin!"

Sorry to hear about your dad.He is in a better place, his suffering is over. He will always be in your heart and thoughts.

1989 was the first year I was assigned a first round football playoff game by the IHSA. It was played on Wednesday, November 01 with a 7:00 PM kick-off: Belvidere at Round Lake. Rod worked the game as Linesman; John "Jack" O´Brien as Umpire; Claude Peyrot as Back Judge; a "Ron from Chicago" as Referee; and I as Line Judge. I hadn't worked with any of the others before, but Rod was kind enough to contact me and volunteered to drive a good portion of the way to the game site after setting up a meeting point at a tollway Oasis. He welcomed me and made me feel comfortable working with Jack and Claude, who were on his "regular season" crew at the time. Rod led a good pregame discussion that helped us have a successful night, even though "Ron from Chicago" arrived just moments before we were to take the field and demanded to be the Referee. (The IHSA did not assign positions back then.) Rod just rolled his eyes at that yahoo and shook his head. I picked up a lot from Rod that helped me become a better crew-chief later in my football officiating career. I'm sure there are several others who were also grateful for Rod's tutelage.

As was previously mentioned, I always remembered and thanked Rod when I assigned him to underclass football games. He always insisted that I put a new official on the games with him so he could mentor them. I have no idea of how many new football officials he helped with his "give back to the game" attitude. No game was too far for him to go to as long as it had a new official on the game that he could help. Thank you Rod for everything you did to help officials.

My most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Rod Apida who I knew many years ago through our mutual friends, Jerry Winiecki and family, in Berwyn. Rod became a client for my legal services from time to time over the years. Seeing his name in the obituaries raised many happy memories. May he rest in peace.

Barbara my thoughts and prayers have been with you these past five months as you took on caring for your father. You gave your dad the best final months of his life than anyone could have given to him. One of my favorite memories of your dad, was when we were teenagers and we "borrowed" his car and took it for a joyride into the city of Chicago. He knew what we did, he never let on, he just shot us that smile of his and went on like nothing happened. Remember to the good times, they will carry you through the bad. All my love.