Helen Daniel Rodman

Helen Daniel Rodman

Helen Daniel Rodman, 89, of Charlottesville, died Friday, December 31st, 2010.

She was born in Philadelphia, July 8th, 1921, the daughter of the late Channing W. Daniel and Katherine Verner Daniel of Richmond.

She is survived by her brother, Peter Verner Daniel; her son, William Louis Rodman Jr.; a daughter, Channing Penna; and honorary son and caregiver, Charles Chabot.

She also is survived by four grandchildren, Sean Stewart Rodman, Trevor Thieme, Brandon Thieme and Channing Spring Rodman; and two great-grandchildren, Jasmine Fulton Rodman and Isaac Hugh Rodman.

A second daughter, Joan Stewart Rodman, pre-deceased her in 1973. Bill Rodman, her beloved husband of 68 years, pre-deceased her on January 7th, 2010.

As a girl of 15, she enrolled in Chatham Hall, a boarding school in Chatham, Virginia, from which she graduated in 1939. Soon thereafter, Bill entered The United States Army serving with distinction in the European theater during World War II. Upon his return in 1945, Helen joined her husband and young family at Virginia Tech where Bill earned a degree in Agricultural Science. After graduation, they moved to Brandy Rock Farm in Brandy, Virginia, where Bill managed the farm for three years.

In 1951, Bill joined the United States Foreign Agricultural Service and with Helen and family, served for 30 years with postings in Canada, Argentina, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Australia, Mexico and England.

Following retirement to Charlottesville in 1980, Helen became active in community affairs founding the Piedmont Chapter of the Compassionate Friends in 1983, a support group for bereaved parents. Having received support from The Compassionate Friends in London when her daughter Joni died in 1973, she wanted to offer the same friendship and understanding to others facing the loss of a child. Throughout the years, she encouraged the formation of chapters in other areas of central Virginia and she considered this work her most important accomplishment.

In 1999, Helen published From This Day Forward, Memoirs of An Attache Wife, a book that traced the diplomatic and personal life of the Rodman family through the years of World War II up to Bill's retirement from the United States Foreign Service. Filled with recollections of people and events, it is a memoir of an American family living in other countries keeping the values that allowed them in Helen's words, "to grow to maturity in the security of home, free of social and economic prejudices."

As a gift to children, grandchildren and friends, Helen published a collection of short stories, essays and remembrances, including poetry by her husband titled, With Dearest Love, in 2009

Funeral services will take place 11 a.m. Saturday, January 8, 2011, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Westminster Canterbury of the Blue Ridge and Martha Jefferson Hospital for the care that they gave during Helen's illness.

Contributions will be gratefully accepted by the Joan Stewart Rodman Memorial Fund, Saint Catherine's School, 6001 Grove Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226.

Friends may sign the register book at www.hillandwood.com


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.