Elias M. Rodriguez

Elias Mario Rodriguez (Eli), 43 of Avondale, Arizona passed away unexpectedly on March 19, 2021. He was born in Norwalk, California on December 8, 1977 but spent the majority of his life in Phoenix, Arizona.

Eli is survived by his mother Emily, grandmother Romana, his sister Romana and her husband Craig, and their children Daniel and Cora, and uncles Ray and Richard. He is also survived by his California family, grandmother Elvia, siblings Cassandra, Essie, Ellis, Elisa, Tony, and Jessica, uncles Eddie and Ezekiel, aunts Juanita and Marty, nieces… as well as many cousins in both Arizona and California.

Eli always had a great love for sports and his Arizona upbringing was reflected in this favorite sports teams. He was a huge Arizona Cardinals fan and loved the Arizona State University Sun Devils so much that he even named his cat ASU. As a child, he played Pop Warner football and then transitioned to playing high school football where he was a proud Washington Ram. He also loved basketball, and growing up there was always a basketball hoop at home where he could practice and play with his friends. His short stature prevented him from ever being on a school team but that did not mean he didn’t love playing the game.

Throughout his school years, Eli was always surrounded by friends and was popular with both students and teachers alike. You could even say that the only reason he attended school was to play football and hang out with his friends. While he excelled socially and in football during his school years, he did not invest as much time in his academic career as he did his social interests and ended up dropping out of high school. He would later quite easily earn his GED because his lack of interest in school did not equate to a lack of knowledge. He loved learning about history, especially World War II and American history. If fact his childhood role model was Richard Nixon and he even dressed up as him too.

As he grew older Eli had a variety of different jobs but he was most proud of working for KSLX, the local classic rock station, as a board operator. He worked hard and graduated from radio broadcasting school. Since Eli had always loved music he really found enjoyment in radio, and one day hoped that he could be on-air. His taste in music was very eclectic with him enjoying almost everything including classic rock, 80s pop, heavy metal, oldies, rap, classical and especially the old Italian crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Eli always had many interests, hobbies and was an avid collector. He had a huge collection of Funko Pops, first edition books, movies, video games, TV Shows, LEGOs, and hats, especially fedoras. He was an avid reader devouring everything from science fiction and fantasy to techno-thriller and historical fiction. He loved watching movies and TV Shows. When it came to movies, he not only knew the actors, but the producers and directors too. He would learn all he could about the film and when it came to mob movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas, fuggedaboutit! He loved them so much he wanted to be Italian. He grew up on Star Trek and Star Wars and they would continue to be among his favorite franchises his whole life. Binge watching shows was also a favorite pastime, especially with shows like Game of Thrones where he could get lost in the world and old nostalgic favorites like The A-Tean and Hunter which made him remember his childhood.

Eli had a great love for animals and he always had dogs surrounding him, mainly Chihuahuas. He was the type of person who could not let a stray cat go unfed and if he found an abandoned dog, they would soon be a part of the family. His little dogs, Zoey, Andre, Chip, and Colt truly made him happy and he had all the love in the world for them.

As time when on and his health started to fail him he missed spending time with his friends and family. Going camping with his cousins in Northern Arizona near the rim were some of his happiest memories. These last 10 years the thing that brought him the most joy was spending time with his nephew Daniel and niece Cora. He treasured the time that he spent with them and the more he could see them the better. Eli had wanted to have children of his own and while that did not work out, he was able to shower Daniel and Cora with all his love and affection. He was always on the lookout for toys they might like, new LEGO sets to build for Daniel or cute kitty things for Cora. In fact it wasn’t just Daniel and Cora that he kept in mind, it seemed like he would always have a small gift for you anytime you saw him.

Eli was a big guy but he had an even bigger heart. He loved his family fiercely and he will be forever missed.

Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service for Eli on Friday, April 2, 2021 at 1:00PM at West Resthaven Funeral Home; 6450 W. Northern Avenue in Glendale.